Son of the Ten Suns
by Namer
Summary: Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. But what choice is left for a young man far out of his time and place, when the alternative is letting a world burn, whether in the flames of war or the plots of beings from beyond? He's only seen this world from behind a veneer of paper or glass, and now he must save it. Self-Insert.
1. Crimson Night - I

_I should never have let it come to this._

The night burned. The sky, pitch black, moonless and starless, echoed a hundred thousand screams. Great red eyes loomed in the night. The eyes of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the Nine-tailed Demon Fox. Death had come to Konoha in a guise not seen since Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju's final battle.

 _I-I'm sorry, Minato. I thought I could stop this, save Kushina..._

I stood at the edge of the Hokage Monument, right over my own stone forehead. My head pulsed fiercely, every heartbeat sending flashes of agonising pain through my skull. I'd turned my back on Obito and paid the price. But Obito should be been safe, on our side. Madara had never gotten his hands on him. Tobi didn't exist. But all the same things happened nonetheless.

I drew in my chakra, sending it flowing my arms in a river tightly spiralling into the tip of the arrows and over the staves of Houyi'yan, Bow of the Ten Suns, _my bow_. It thrummed with chakra. I swallowed the last of the rice.

My bow was beautiful. It was unique in the elemental nations. Where other Ninja used ninjutsu from their hands or mouth, I channelled ninjutsu through my arrows.

Long ranged, and _very_ expensive chakra-wise.

 _Houyi's Flame: Six Suns of Hell, Blaze!_

I loosed. The sky burned. Six arrows shot forth in a fan pattern, each a flaming orb the size of my torso, twisting and rippling through the air, their flames glowing as red and hot as the Kyuubi's rage.

 _Kushina… I thought I asked you to be nicer to him. You know, talk to him once in a while or something, maybe ask him his name…_

The six arrows slammed into Kurama's flank, exploding in a shower of blinding light that had me squinting from kilometers away. The Kyuubi's head whipped around to me as it staggered, two great legs lifting off the ground momentarily before coming down again with an earth shattering sound and a long line of jagged cracks rippling outwards.

There were tiny specks in the distance. Shinobi of Konoha. Chunin and Jonin and ANBU, cannon-fodder all. I would tell them to retreat, but they couldn't, yet. If they didn't hold Kurama at bay, the Kyuubi would be free to rampage all over Konoha itself. Fortunately, there were others, greater ninja, standing with them.

The Six Suns was one of my more powerful techniques. The Kyuubi didn't even take anything more than superficial damage from it. The equivalent of bruises, perhaps. But even bruises count, when they stack up. I knew that because the Kyuubi wasn't my first Bijuu.

I took seven arrows in hand this time. I nocked them onto the bow, one after another, all in a long, neat file. My fingers held down four of them. The other three I held together in place by phantom limbs of chakra. I drew the bow back, and filled it with chakra. _More, more_. Fire chakra swirled into each of the arrows, flowing through them, coalescing and condensing at their tips.

 _Hoyui's Flame: Seven Suns of Fortune, Fall!_

My fingers began to blister from the heat. I loosed. The sky screamed. Seven arrows shot forth, a wave of fire glowing as hot as the technique's namesake. They impacted and the night died for a brief instant. Kurama howled and screeched and staggered back on his four legs, his tails waving wildly, his face twisted in pain.

Blue and yellow flashed in the distance even as the explosions of the Seven Suns died out. Minato Namikaze had entered the field. Kushina was safe, then? Tsunade was looking after her, to my knowledge.

The Yellow Flash struck at the Kyuubi brutally from every side, turning the battlefield bright with a multitude of _Rasengan_ blows from different angles. He stuck the Kyuubi's neck, flank, front left leg, rear right knee, two of the tails and stomach. I winced a little even as I drew and nocked three more arrows.

I saw Hiruzen Sarutobi slam the Kyuubi back with a single blow of Enma, his Monkey-King summon turned staff. Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang, danced amidst the Kyuubi's feet, lightning flashing at regular intervals from his white saber that was visible even at this distance as a pinprick of light. Konan swept gracefully across its face on her paper wings, bombarding it with her paper explosives. The ground shook as she dove and threw a thousand paper bombs at once, driving the Nine-Tails back in the face of the relentless bombardment that smashed in a trench a mile wide.

The Nine-Tails had picked _the wrong village to fuck with_. Konohagakure had more S-Class Ninja at this point in history than any two other villages combined.

Still, I needed _more_. I shot a single arrow, that gave off intermittent chakra pulses. Those who knew to read the chakra pulses knew what it indicated:

 _"I'm going to bomb the fuck out of this general vicinity. Best get back."_

They did exactly that. Kurama took advantage of the sudden space to take a step back and take in the situation around him. Big mistake. I fired two more arrows in unison.

 _Hoyui's Breath: Taker of the Skies!_

 _Hoyui's Bone: Kingdom of Gravel!_

The first arrow flew lazily, curving a high crescent. It reached a spot directly above the Kyuubi, and then exploded. A physically visible ripple of force and air lanced out in all directions, falling earthwards, encasing the Kyuubi within a dome of woven wind that spun so tightly it was nigh solid. It was equally to hem him in as it was to protect the others.

The second arrow moved like the hand of god reaching down to hammer the ground with the strongest punch it could muster, at the very edge of the dome. The earth within the dome twisted and buckled and cracked in an instant, breaking apart into a billion tiny pieces, each one the size of my fist, hardened and jagged with teeths of stone to rip into flesh and bone. They rose as one, swirled into a hurricane by the dome. The maelstrom of rock tore through the Kyuubi ruthlessly. Normal humans would've been turned to mulch in seconds.

Kingdom of Gravel lasted fifteen seconds. When it ended, the Kyuubi lay bleeding and whimpering, one leg limping, but it lived. The ground around it was ravaged, the earth scoured away for a dozen meters down, even part of the bedrock gouged away. But it slowly stood up.

The Kyuubi finally looked up at me, it's bloody eyes piercing through the gloom to meet mine. I defiantly stared back.

Then it roared. It bunched up its muscles and _leapt_ , right over the assembled fighters, making a beeline straight for me.

It didn't get far, though. I saw Minato put his hands together then to the ground, and then a toad sat on top of Kurama. Toad and Fox landed into the ground with a mighty crash, digging a furrow the size of a small mountain, downwards. Gamabunta looked unruffled, though he kept one hand on his Katana.

Kurama would not yet submit. I saw the Kyuubi open his mouth wide, an orb of ebony annihilation forming: a Bijuu-bomb. Not that I wasn't expecting it. My hands were already drawing back the next arrow. A single shot.

 _Hoyui's Shadow: Demon-Shocking Bolt, Bioshock!_

The arrow flew, black and true. It pierced the Bijuu-bomb, popping it like a balloon, and lodged into the back of Kurama's throat. He gave a mighty spasm, and collapsed. The chakra seals on the arrow were alternatively grabbing and releasing his chakra, pushing and pulling it apart and preventing him from using it for anything. It played hell on his body, like someone was short-circuiting it every few moments.

Just like that, the battle was over. It hadn't lasted an hour. The kyuubi had broken free of its seal and I'd been clubbed in the back of my head by my personal ANBU guard, Swallow. Also known as Obito.

When I came to, less than twenty minutes afterwards, my other bodyguard, Tiger, stood over me bandaging the back of my head, while Hiruzen, Sakumo and Konan had already engaged the Bijuu with support from other ninjas of Konoha. From then, it was a simple matter for me to retrieve Houyi'yan and find a vantage point.

And I… I now had a choice: kill Kurama or let him live.

...I never thought I would need to make _this_ choice.

I could kill Kurama, either by sealing him within a dying person or simply tearing his body apart to shreds. He would disperse, not to pull himself back together for centuries. And without the Nine-Tails, the Ten-Tails could never be and Madara and Zetsu's plans would be foiled. But did Kurama deserve it? Deserve the fear and hatred and imprisonment and possibly being controlled, and in the end annihilation? And though Madara would be dead, Zetsu would live, to plan and plot and conspire once again in the future.

This had been no desperate fight like in canon. Kushina hadn't been dying, Naruto hadn't been kidnapped by Tobi. The Kyuubi hadn't even reached the outskirts of the village. It had been stopped dead by me, Sakumo, Konan, Jiraiya, Hiruzen, and now Minato.

Things suddenly grew… quiet. Minato glanced towards the direction of the Hokage Mountain, then teleported to beside me.

"How's Kushina?" I asked quietly, lowering Houyi'yan. The markings along the staves faded, as the chakra dispersed.

"Tsunade-sama says she will live. Naruto's fine too. But…" Minato replied softly. His body was quavered.

I guessed. "She can't seal Kurama back in yet. She's too weak."

"Yes, I- I don't know what to do!" Minato looked exhausted, his eyes were bloodshot. His flak jacket was torn in pieces and there was blood on his face and arms. His chakra must've been flagging too.

Noting Kurama twitching and squirming out of the corners of my eyes, I nodded to Minato, "Bring her back here. We need her chains on the Kyuubi before we talk further."

Whatever indecision that might've been plaguing Minato, they melted away under my orders. He trusted me explicitly. I trusted him explicitly. We gave each other good advice. He teleported away with the next blink.

I spun my bow in my hand and with a quick twist slung it over my head diagonally across my body. It took me only a few minutes to cross Kohona and land near the outer fields where Kurama lay. Kushina stood there, pale and clammy, hanging onto Minato and Tsunade. I put my hands on her shoulder, grabbing my Uzumaki chakra and pushing it onto Kushina's. I felt Kushina's depleted chakra resist for a moment, then slowly meld with my own, and then Kushina wove her hands in a dizzying array of seals and markings, faster than I could even though she was weakened and exhausted.

Golden chains erupted out, whipping into the sky to wrap around Kurama. The Kyuubi snarled and gnashed his teeth, but Gamabunta and the newly arrived Katsuyu held him fast, pinning him down. The chains tore through his flesh in eruptions of gore and chakra and wrapped around every limb and tail, pinning them against his torso. More chains wrapped around his neck and his muzzle, tussling him up securely. He squirmed and struggled, but the chains had no give.

I took a step back from Kushina, who gratefully collapsed back into Minato's arms. I knelt down beside her, murmuring, "Shh, Kushina, it'll be alright. We're here. I'll hold the chains. You rest."

She mumbled something back. "N-Nar-"

Without a word, Konan stepped forwards, holding the baby Naruto in her arms. This was my first time looking at my newest relative. He was small and flabby, ugly and cute at the same time in the way only babies could be. His eyes were scrunched shut and the birthmarks were visible. They were very cute whiskers.

Kushina handed me one end of the Adamantine Sealing Chains. I wrapped it around my hand and held it fast, feeling it siphon chakra bit by bit in the same way advanced chakra string techniques did. But nothing I couldn't handle for a few hours. She cradled the baby Naruto tightly in her arms, as if afraid he would disappear right out of his swaddling clothes. Minato held his arm under hers, bracing his child and wife.

"Take them home, Minato." I said wearily. The rice was wearing off. Giving Kushina the chakra to materialize the chains took a lot out of me. "And you lot, clear out too! The Kyuubi is still dangerous!" I barked behind me. A crowd of people had gathered there, come out of shelters when the fighting had ended, shinobi and civilians both. Instantly the shinobi sprang into action, herding the latter away.

Couldn't relax yet. I was the Yondaime Hokage. They needed me. I directed a squad of ANBU to watch over Minato and Kushina. Tsunade hurried off to the Hospital, or perhaps after Kushina. Jiraiya exchanged a fierce grin and a thumbs up with me before disappearing. Others stood by me still, however.

"Sarutobi-sama, can you take over my duties as Hokage for the next few hours? I will be indisposed." I asked the aged former Hokage standing nearby, holding up the chains I held.

"Certainly. Do be careful now, would you." The third turned, then added, "That was a very impressive display of ninjutsu. I don't think I taught you all that." With that, he disappeared in a burst of speed in the direction of the Hokage Tower.

"You didn't make me Hokage just so I could do your paperwork!" I called after him. I smiled for a second, then sobered as I turned to the next person.

"Did you find Kakashi yet, Sakumo-san?" I said to the decorated veteran of two wars. Kakashi had gone missing two days ago, and though I had dozens of people looking for him, we couldn't find him. I couldn't imagine what it felt like to Sakumo, with his fourteen-year old ANBU son disappearing so abruptly.

And just before the Kyuubi attack too.

He replied with a curt "No." Any more would show too much emotion. I said, "I'm sorry, but I'll have to pull manpower back to the village. The search-"

The White Fang gave a nod, looking more tired and defeated than ever. He was aging, I knew. He had been searching just before the attack, but he hadn't had time to report to me when I called all available ninja back to the village.

"I care about Kakashi too. We'll find him. We don't let one of ours vanish so easily." I reassured the man. He said nothing, instead glancing at the Kyuubi one last time before sheathing his lightsaber.

I gave a quiet sigh and sat down in front of Kurama, unslinging my bow and placing it beside me. His baleful red eyes glared at me. They weren't possessed by the Sharingan, which gave me both good and bad news.

With my legs crossed and arms relaxed with one hand still holding onto the chains, I looked unperturbed by the events of the night or by the fact that I currently held onto the bindings of one of the the most powerful superweapons on the continent.

Konan came up to me, "Hey," she said as she sat down beside me.

"Hey." I replied.

She ran her hands over my head and back, examining the bandages, "Are you alright? I was worried when you didn't show up at first."

I snarled uncharacteristically, "I was _betrayed._ " She knew betrayal. Her face went taut, "Who?" She asked in a clipped voice.

"Swallow. Obito Uchiha." She took a sharp intake of breath. I continued: "I _am_ getting to the bottom of this. He could've _killed_ me if Tiger hadn't arrived on time and fought him off."

"Why would he do it? I thought, you knew…?" She asked, moving her arms and gesturing vaguely.

Oh, certainly, I wouldn't keep the secrets of my knowledge from the woman I loved, but neither would I tell her everything. A man from another world I might be, who had seen all this unfold on television screens and paper manga, but nonetheless I was an inhabitant of _this_ world.

Renaro Uzumaki had never been to Earth. He had lived in the Elemental Nations for almost half again as long as he had memories of Earth. Without the Rabbits, he wouldn't have remembered anything at all.

So Konan knew that I _knew_ things, but she didn't know the exact specifics of how or why, only that it was related to the Rabbits of the Moon.

"I've had food bought." She said suddenly, receiving a bento box from an ANBU. I looked around, realising we were all surrounded by them in a half circle, keeping a respectful distance from me and a wary eye on the Nine-Tails. "Here," she said, raising a bite to my mouth.

"Um," I said, looking around at the ANBU around me and _not_ blushing a little. Then I caught her stormy eyes and argued no more.

In between bites, I asked, "You aren't hurt at all?"

She shook her head. " _Please_. I know better than to let that thing hit me."

'That thing' grunted. We tensed for a moment, but Kurama made no move. With one eye open, he simply stared at us.

"What're you going to do with it?" Konan asked.

"Not _it_." I said absently. " _Him_. He has a name and a personality."

Kurama's eyes flickered to me and stayed on.

"As for what to do? I don't know." I said simply. Konan raised an eyebrow. "It… depends on Kushina." I added.

Konan nodded, swiping a stray strand of lavender hair out of her eyes. We continued eating.

An hour passed. Others came by to visit. Jiraiya dropped by and watched the Kyuubi with me for a while, before summoning a Toad, Gerotora, I think, to give him warning if anything happened. Gerotora kept her distance from me, eyeing me distastefully. Summons didn't like me. Tsunade checked up on me, proclaimed I was perfectly healthy and went on her way, Rin following on her heels. One of the squads of ANBU rotated out.

Konan eventually leaned against my side and closed her eyes. Then she took a nap while babysitting the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.

I closed my eyes too, leaning against her, and slipped away.

 _Did you foresee this too? You Rabbits, flittering and hopping around, all warm and soft on the surface and steel and ivory on the inside? You would have me break this world beneath my heels, if it meant there would be peace. A peace so deep… that it would be like the dark._

 _You can't have peace in daylight, when all the flaws and follies of men are laid out on the open for others to see and jeer at. Only silence and solitude brings peace. Would you have me thrust every human into darkness and loneliness, then?_

 _The Infinite Tsukuyomi was a plan doomed to failure, you all knew, and yet you let Kaguya Otsutsuki carry it out, to its demise and her own._

 _And now you hand_ me _that same burden._

 _I am the Son of Ten Suns. The Last Son of Uzushiogakure. One day, I will cease to act to your whims._

* * *

 _From the top of the world, the only road left leads downwards._

* * *

If you have concerns that the MC is too powerful, understand that I'm not a shitty enough writer to make a mary sue SI fic. It's noonday for the Son of Ten Suns. But, eventually, the sun must set. The next few chapters should show that.

I'm not certain if starting an SI story in media res is the best idea, but I hope it's followable. My knowledge of Naruto is almost entirely secondhand, so correct me on any errors I might make.

This isn't my first story, but this is the first time I'm posting on here. Feel free to review, comment or criticize. Constructive is appreciated and I'll try to work with any suggestions I deem relevant, destructive and flames make me go "lol" and move on.

Thanks for reading.


	2. Crimson Night - II

My oldest memory was of Ten Suns wheeling in the high vaulted heavens above, their gloriously incandescent rays overlapping and ripping, dancing with each other.

Ten Suns, of different shades from Blood right above the western horizon to Gold right above my head and Ice at the eastern horizon. The ten suns I was born under, and remembered for the rest of my life.

My second memory is of Uzushiogakure crumbling, tumbling, whirling into the depths of a swirling torrent of water: The Village Hidden in Whirlpools, destroyed by what should've protected it. Of the survivors of Uzushio, I was the youngest. I was just five.

There were two others of note, in my early childhood: two who _made a difference_ in the world. Kushina Uzumaki, seven years old, who held my hand and cried as we were carted away from our destroyed village, and Mito Uzumaki, who pulled us into a warm, welcoming embrace and took care of us for the next decade.

When one in reincarnated as a _self-insert_ , one does not remember much. Babies are wont to forget things, and there simply is too much data, too many electrical impulses, for the underdeveloped brain to handle. Memories leak like water through a sand sieve.

Nevertheless, I understood from a young age that, firstly, I had been inserted into a fictional universe, and secondly, that _I could_ and _would change things_.

The Year was 34 FE. Thirty-four years since the birth of Konoha. And the Second Shinobi World War loomed on the horizon. 

* * *

Dawn found me still sitting by Kurama, holding his chains. Konan sat by me the whole time, making small talk. It had been two and a half hours since Naruto was born.

The ground around us was littered with little paper cranes and birds and dragons and puppies and whatnot. I felt them before I heard them. Minato and Jiraiya carried Kushina on a litter, with Tsunade fussing over her and Rin standing by holding a sleeping Naruto.

"Decided what to do with the Kyuubi?" I asked Minato.

He nodded uncertainly, "Kushina is stable now. She said she would seal it back in her."

"She just…" Konan spoke, "Is there no other alternative? Nothing else to imprison the Kyuubi in? You're still-"

Kushina wheezed from the litter, propping herself up a little higher on an elbow. "It's my burden. Don't worry, Konan-chan, I'll be fine!"

 _What a brave face you make…_

"Did you know," I spoke quietly, "The Yondaime Kazekage's son is the Jinchuuriki of the One-Tails?" There was a pause of a few moments.

" _What?_ " Minato and Jiraiya simultaneously growled. Kushina blanched. Even Tsunade stopped her work, eyes open wide.

"He sealed a Tailed-Beast into his infant son?" Jiraiya asked, with narrowed eyes.

"That too," I continued, "While he was in the womb."

Kushina spoke fiercely, "There's no way-"

I raised a hand. "Of course not. Relax. I'm simply outlining a possibility. I'd break your arms myself if you had suggested sealing the Nine-Tails into Naruto." I looked at Kushina, "Are you sure you want to seal it back in yourself? There _are_ other Uzumaki alternatives and I have every confidence you'll survive without it."

"..."

"Did he just ask 'Can I have the Bijuu?'" Tsunade stared from me to Jiraiya and Minato. I smiled at her flabbergasted expression.

"No." Kushina said flatly. "I'm keeping it." And that was it.

The sun had full well risen when I released the Chakra chains and the Kyuubi began to disintegrate. I watched from off to the side as the sealmasters worked.

"Painful memories?" I asked Rin. She adjusted Naruto in her arms as she looked up at me.

"Yeah…" She replied. "A-after I came back, I couldn't look at Kushina-san for a long time. It just… hurt. It still hurts."

"And it will keep hurting. You shouldn't have to deal with this. But you must, and so you will." I put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

Rin had been taken by Mist, as in canon, despite Obito being on the team at that time. As _not-in-_ canon, I'd warned Minato much earlier.

We'd interrupted the sealing ceremony halfway through. Rin's body had been covered in ink. She had been made into the container already, but the contents, the Sanbi's chakra, hadn't been poured in. With the interruption, the Three-tails had been unleashed.

The battle with the Sanbi that followed, as Minato got Rin to safety…

I'd burned through five of rice cakes, and gone up to _Nine Suns_ , obliterating miles and miles of forestscape and barely beating the Three-Tails to a retreat, almost dying in the process.

But Rin.. she would never be the same. She remained hollow, her body itself hungering to be filled.

One of my failures.

We stood by in silence as the sealmasters did a final checkup of the seal. Kurama looked resigned to his fate, but I noted him watching me out of the corner of one eye.

"Alright," Minato said to Kushina, holding her hand tight, "We're starting. Just… hold on..."

The blackness in her stomach opened up. A hollow cavity in the fabric of space-time, storing an incredible amount of energy without regards to mass or volume. The Kyuubi distorted, disintegrating into swirling patterns of red chakra as it flowed back into its host.

A tense minute passed, as the Kyuubi flowed into Kushina. She writhed and arched up her back on the flat ground, but Minato and Tsunade held her tightly (no way they were going to let Jiraiya also hold her).

And… something else twisted, off nearby.

Steel glinted. Space warped.

Kushina fell back, collapsing, breathing heavily, her body heaving, but she was alive. The ink on her stomach curled and rolled back to their resting position. We all heaved a sigh of relief, nearly simultaneously. And things began to move slowly.

Minato's eyes bulged open. His hand rose to his neck, and then he was wrenched backwards, hurled across half-a-dozen meters of open ground, jerked by some invisible force. A ninja wire gleamed across his neck.

Jiraiya took two hits in the stomach before his hair rose up to cover him in a protective shell of spines and ward off the attacker. I could see red dripping.

Tsunade lashed out with a quick punch, but her senses were flagging in the aftermath of the attack and sealing. Her opponent moved in a blur of taijutsu, spinning and twirling around her attacks and grabbing her bodily to slam her back down with a earth-shaking blow. I didn't even see Rin go down.

Konan rose to the sky, out of melee range of the attacker, desperately batting away at the flames that threatened to engulf her person. They spread even as she shed paper by the sheaf, trying to break her avatar apart before it burned her out entirely. The flames were black.

I raised my hands to block one strike, and _it was fast and hard_ , skidding backwards. One hand reached back for Hoyui'yan, the other I moved in front in a defensive stance. The swirling pattern of the mask moved in on me, crowding me in. I unclipped Hoyui'yan, and before I could bring it and its bladed staves to bear I took two hits in the face and neck, slender fingers chopping at me. Black flames flickered on Hoyui'yan. I dropped the bow with a curse.

 _Amaterasu_ , a distant, detached part of me named it, even as blows rained down on me. Sharp stinging strikes that lanced through my tenketsu with blackening pain.

My body blazed into light: my flame transformation, activating just a little too late.

I went down into darkness. 

* * *

I watched the end of the world, and I burned.

There was fire. Fire in my heart, my flesh, my thoughts, my skin, my _self_.

I was the Son of Ten Suns. I was born in flame and I would die in flame.

 _Hoyui's Heart: Soul of the Ten Suns…_

My chakra was disappearing: converted to antimatter and annihilated with each passing instant. Energy enough to unmake worlds, merged with my soul to give birth to a new sun. I let go. I broke. The world all about me crumbled and disappeared.

…

Existence ceased, and I continued to burn. 

* * *

"-Ren, Ren!"

Someone was shaking me vigorously. No, not someone. Wind and Paper.

I tried to move my body, but nothing would respond.

 _Panic. PANIC._

Chakra surged in my veins, and _burned_. My vision went red. Utter pained stabbed me all over my body.

"REN! STOP, PLEASE!" The desperate scream finally bought me to my senses. Another voice, deeper and steadier, one that had kept me and Minato and Okita safe for so long, cut in. Only…

"He _can't_ stop. His chakra pathways are all fucked up from these things. Fan his flames away from me." Jiraiya commanded.

I saw his face appear above me, shimmering in the hazy thrown up by my flaming body. He was in Sage mode, with that swollen nose and warty skin.

"Sens-" I groaned out and was instantly cut off by a series of sharp lances of pain throughout my body that made me throw my head back and screech. But once the pain ended, my chakra could flow properly again. I immediately cut off my Fire Transformation.

I finally looked at the things Jiraiya-sensei had pulled out of me.

Sharp, black spikes. Dark as night. But flawed: there were imperfections on the surface, and two of the half-dozen were partially melted through.

But there was no mistaking them. They were Chakra Receivers,like the ones used to control the Six Paths of Pain.

I grabbed Konan by the wrist and pulled her close, hissing, "Konan, where's Nagato?"

She answered a little uncertainly, "In Ame. Wh- did something happen to him too?" Her eyes widened in fear, flickering towards Minato.

Minato, who knelt by a single forlorn strand of red hair, weeping.

 _No… no, please…_

* * *

And thus, the other shoe is dropped. Quite a few plot hooks were introduced here. All discussion and reviews are welcome.


	3. Black Days - I

"Kushina-nee." I looked up at her, holding her hand tighter.

"Hmm?" She squeezed my hand and reached down to cup my cheeks, "What's wrong, Ren-kun?"

"Wh-what if… she doesn't like us?" I hesitatingly asked her. This was a five year old speaking. An eighteen year old mind in a five year old body, _very much rattled_. But there was also an eighteen year old mind in this body, with all the inquisitiveness and thinking. They meshed strangely… sometimes, I felt like a child, and sometimes, I felt completely detached. And in high pressure situations, that flip-flopping happened more often.

"No way!" Kushina said with sudden alacrity, before suddenly looking at the door. She'd been loud. "But if she doesn't like us, I'll take care of you, dattebayo!"

"Is that even a word?" I asked curiously.

"It is!" Kushina argued fervently.

"Is not!" I protested. _Really, who taught her to say that?_

It helped to lighten the mood a little. We stood in the entrance hall of the ostentatious residence that the Shodaime's widow and Konoha's _Jinchuuriki_ occupied. The walls were trimmed in gold. The carpets were richly decorated. There were beautifully decorated paraphernalia all over the room, which was as big as a small house. The rest of the house was really big too: after all, it was the residence of the clan that founded Konoha.

I looked at the woodwork on the walls and door more closely. They were exquisite and flawless. Built with a single twist of his hands by the God of Shinobi and the last user of _Mokuton_ , Wood Release.

Inside, I knew Mito Uzumaki sat in conference with the Hokage and the village elders, as well as Takano-jiisan, who was the oldest of those who had managed to flee Uzushio. He was both our uncles.

I looked around. There were people in dark clothes and masks patrolling outside the house, who I figured to be ANBU. I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to be seeing them, but they'd shown themselves to me instead.

Suddenly, another thought occurred to me. I looked around furtively, checking for any people in sight. There were none. In sight, anyway. Then I grabbed Kushina and pulled her down to me, whispering, "Can you hear anything?"

We pressed our ears to the door. It was nice, hard wood, and I couldn't really hear anything.

 _Maybe, if I…?_

I began to move chakra around my body. It was a little tricky, but it was how ninja did it and so I learnt to do it myself. It felt weird and… there really was no context to describe it to someone who didn't have it at all. Nevertheless, it came to me naturally, which is how I and others around me knew I could become a Ninja instead of a civilian.

After a few fumbling minutes, I managed to channel it to my ear, which I had pressed against the wood of the door. My hearing suddenly became better, sharper, able to pick out the tiny little voices that came through the door, just barely. I could make out words, but nothing else about the actual voices themselves. I saw Kushina opposite me, in the same pose, but I think she was having trouble actually getting chakra into her ear.

Also, I somehow managed to pick the absolute best point in the conversation to begin eavesdropping.

"What of the children? They're the legacy of Uzushio now. They're our future."

"Have no worries, Takano-san. I assure you, they will be well protected. We'll place them in Konoha's academy. They are both to become Ninja, yes?"

"The girl will make a fine host for the Jinchuuriki, will she not, Mito? I know you've mentioned that you'll need to pass the Kyuubi on soon. The village has been deprived of its strength for too long. I understand..."

"The kyuubi was never meant to be used as a weapon-"

"Why the girl? She's the eldest daughter of the main line of the Uzumaki. She's older too. Hosts are best young. Wouldn't the boy be a better choice?"

I was taken aback at that. I hadn't actually considered that possibility. _Nope, nope, nope, not becoming tailed beast host._

"The boy's… different. Trust me when I say he's a prodigy. He… sees things, or believes he does. He knows _a lot_ of things, for his age. Sometimes, I doubt he's a child at all."

There was a moment of silence in the room. _So, I had been noticed as a prodigy. Not that I didn't really want to be._

"I'll take you at your word. After all, how many five-year olds do you know who can channel chakra well enough to enhance their hearing and eavesdrop?"

My eyes widened. _Oh-_

I jerked back, pulling Kushina with me, her face still scrunched up as she tried to concentrate on whatever I was doing. She gave an irritated yelp that was cut off, as the door opened.

A tall man in an ANBU mask, some bird, stood in the doorway.

"Kushina Uzumaki. Renaro Uzumaki. Please come in."

* * *

It was raining in Konoha. The day was drear, the clouds grey.

The village wore black. Shinobi in dark or black tunics and shirts, kunoichi in similarly coloured dresses.

It was the memorial. The memorial for those who had died with the Kyuubi no Kitsune's attack and the successive ambush by the masked man.

 _Was it truly Tobi?_ I still wondered that.

Twenty nine people had died on that day. Four civilians who had been trapped under an outlying building and killed in the crossfire. Four shinobi who had died of their wounds from engaging the Kyuubi before Tsunade could get to them.

Twenty ANBU. Slaughtered like hens against a man who took down six S-Class ninja in mere seconds.

And Kushina Uzumaki.

Though most of the village had turned up, Minato was nowhere to be seen. We'd barely seen him after that morning, after his frantic attempts at teleporting to his wife and each failure that drove in and twisted knives into his guts. After thirty or forty attempts and feverish editing of the seal in every way, any way, he just collapsed.

I took him home. To my place attached to the Hokage tower. His house was where Kushina had lived, and it was filled with her scents, her belongings and her memories.

With Konan's help I bathed Naruto as she put Minato to bed. Naruto wouldn't stop crying loudly. Minato wouldn't stop weeping quietly.

But eventually, both Minato and Naruto were asleep, and I could collapse back myself.

 _Why did this happen?_

And I knew there was only one place I would get the answer to that.

* * *

The Lunar landscape was as unearthly and eerily beautiful as ever. It was a hollow, false beauty I couldn't bear to look at. The sky above as pitch black and starless, void of any light or anything.

It was always dark in the land of the rabbits.

" _ **Why did this happen?"**_ I roared, " _ **I DID EVERYTHING! I took every precaution, every measure of security."**_

"Maybe it was meant to be so. Your knowledge isn't infallible."

" _ **It SHOULD be! Everything can be changed, you taught me that yourself!"**_ I replied. Distantly, I remembered shouting wasn't the best course of action here, but I was too far gone for that.

I began pacing tightly and furiously. The circle around us expanded, the listeners shrinking back as I took steps in their direction.

"I did everything." I spoke calmly now, my voice shifting to something colder, "I slew Madara Uchiha by my own hand. I took Obito under my wing. I bought Jiraiya and Tsunade back to the village. I sicced Orochimaru on Lightning country. The toads watched Earth and Water. Nagato watched over Sand. The toads were all over the village's outskirts. _Nobody_ should've been able to infiltrate. And yet _someone_ did. _Someone_ with the Kamui."

I was talking rapidly now. Heads peered in closer to me, to listen in.

"Obito couldn't have done it. He doesn't have the Mangekyo, nor is he strong or fast enough to take us out and take Kushina. Something else is up with him. Something to do with Kakashi? Kakashi doesn't even have the Sharingan. I disintegrated Madara's corpse and removed every evidence of his existence, and buried the Statue. Nobody could've used Edo Tensei either.

"They had chakra rods. The Rinnegan, too? But Konan checked, and Nagato is safe and sound in Ame, surrounded by his Akatsuki. There're no Uchiha who could possibly have evolved their Sharingan into the Rinnegan. So-"

"Enough." The single word cut through my babbling stream of consciousness.

Great, red eyes peered in close to me. Elder Rabbit, five times my height, bent down to look closely at me, his ivory fur gleaming in the torchlight like burnished steel polished white.

"You have said quite enough. You're close to the truth." He said simply.

"So?" I stood with my back straight. "Should I continue raving? Or will you tell me what the hell is going on?"

Elder Rabbit smiled toothily. "Neither," he rumbles in a most un-rabbit-like voice. "Go home. All will become clear to you soon."

I rolled my eyes. "No help. As I thought." Without another word, I turned around and left.

The landscape around me was prim and cute: little mounds and tunnel entrances dotted the place, which was filled with lush flowers of every colour. Some of those flowers glowed, to give light to the sunless world.

Walking past the warrens and the little streets, ignoring the usual stares of the rabbit around me, I left the 'town'. Just outside it was a little shaded nook, covered in rocks and azure vines. Grabbing a few flowers from by the entrance, I walked in.

There was one ultimatum I laid down before the rabbits, in exchange for carrying out their plans. A grave. I left it here because I couldn't bear to have her body destroyed, or desecrated by the myriad techniques available to ninjas.

Okita's grave was marked with a single tachi stabbed into the ground, a long, crimson ribbon wrapped around its hilt and hanging down.

"Hey, Okita." I said quietly, kneeling down and placing the flowers beside her grave. I sighed deeply. "I screwed up again, sorry."

I could see her sitting opposite me, rolling her eyes as if to say "Of course you did." Her eye-roll wasn't as crude as mine: it was elegant and condescending, as if it was another bloodline limit alongside her eyes.

"Wasn't my fault, though. Or maybe it was. Maybe I overlooked something, let someone slip through the cracks. Now Kushina's gone because of it.

"I got the power I wanted, but it's not the solution. I got the peace I wanted, but it was too short. Now things are suddenly falling apart. Power doesn't stop everything… or maybe it does and I don't have enough of it. I nearly died against one of the weaker Tailed-Beasts. Hashirama could beat Madara and the Nine-Tailed at the same time singlehandedly. I just hope I reach that level soon. I'm hoping a lot of things.

As our conversation wound down, Okita turned away from me, clearly finished listening. Her hair went down halfway to her back, sleek and black as midnight.

"This isn't dusk," I said, standing back up, still staring at her back, "It's just a cloudy afternoon. I'll be back soon, Okita."

I turned away from the bloodiest ghost of my past, and walked back into the land under a lightless horizon.

* * *

I like my characters to be human. I like them to screw up, to have power and yet fail. Falling from a small high doesn't really hurt, but falling from a mountain can be fatal, regardless of whether you built the mountain by your own hands or not

All reviews are welcome.


	4. Black Days - II

There was a body on my balcony.

No, scratch that, there were _two_ bodies on the balcony. Only one was breathing, though. There was blood on the wooden floor, and bits of torn bandages. And the two had arrived there, in the middle of the afternoon in broad daylight, without setting off a single alarm despite all the security in the village.

I turned the first one over, and inhaled sharply. Short spiky hair, the remnants of a shattered pair of orange-tinted goggles hanging across the neck, and bleeding eyes. His ANBU armour was cracked and torn in so many places it was barely recognizable as armour.

"Obito." I whispered. "What the hell…?"

He was alive, and he was here. I was completely torn about that. On one hand, I was relieved to see him safe and sound–he was my teammate's student and someone I'd taken under wing–and he would undoubtedly have _answers_. And on the other hand, he bought with him a lot more headaches and questions.

At least it was confirmation that Obito Uchiha was not Tobi.

When I turned the other body, my heart dropped. It was all I could do to not curl up and weep at the other life I'd taken.

With a flick of my fingers, I had Tiger beside me. I felt his shock despite the mask. "Take him to the Hospital. Call Tsunade and set an ANBU guard." I said, gesturing at Obito, then to the other body, "And take him to the morgue. Do not start the autopsy until I say so. And someone, find me Sakumo."

Tiger flickered away with a curt nod, leaving me alone on the balcony with the two bodies.

"Damn it!" I cursed and struck the ground. Everything was falling apart. Sakumo… I had no idea how he would reach to Kakashi's death. He was about as emotionally stable as his son would've been, originally, with the added benefit of being both stronger and more suicidal.

I would need to handle this carefully.

As for Minato… he was already broken. If I told him of Kakashi's death now, it would just blend in with all the grief he was already feeling. It wouldn't affect him much.

At least Rin had Tsunade to console her. She could focus her energy on helping Obito.

There was a knock from inside. A moment later, Jiraiya-sensei came out onto the balcony, his face grim. He looked at both of Minato's students without a word.

"I've seen too many young people die." He finally said, as we dragged the bodies in and ANBU medics appeared to carry them off.

"How do I tell them, Sensei?" I looked up at him, "How to I tell Minato that one of his students is dead. How do I tell Sakumo that Kakashi's gone?"

"I can do it," he offered. " Sakumo's one of my oldest friends. And I know the pain of losing a student too."

Of course. Okita.

I looked at him, not quite meeting his eyes. "Will you do it, please, sensei? I-I'm not strong enough. I can keep it bottled up and cold and calm, but when it comes to this… I'm not the best person for it."

Jiraiya laid a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "It's perfectly fine to not be good at it. Did I ever tell you why you were picked for Hokage, over Minato or me or even Shimura?"

I shook my head, "No. I thought Minato would be picked. I even thought of passing it onto him, after Naruto's birth."

"It's your heart," he said with a light poke to my chest. "You have a heart that burns so fiercely that you force yourself to keep it restrained at all times. That's why you're colder to others. That's why you can't empathize with the so easily: your heart burns as bright as the Ten Suns you're fixated on, and if you let it go, you could reduce everything around you to ashes. That's why I very sincerely hope you never do lose what's precious to you."

 _Oh…_

"You're a good Hokage." Sensei ends with a clap to my shoulder.

 _Oh… I get it…_

"You came in for something else, though, Sensei?" I asked, moving away from him and taking my chair.

 _It all makes sense now._

"Yeah," Jiraiya said, "I wanted to take Minato away."

I frowned. "What do you mean, 'away'?"

 _I understand my dreams now._

"Away from the village, from Naruto and from all these memories of Kushina. She's dead, and he needs a change of setting to digest that properly, before he can recover."

"He's not going to agree," I said.

"Maybe. Maybe not. But this is what's best for him. And I can take Sakumo along too. They'll both need it."

 _Is this how I will end? Having given up all hope, all control?_

"Alright, then. Go ahead, I'll run the paperwork for an extended leave for the three of you as soon as I can. I can watch Naruto with Konan too."

"Then I'll be leaving soon. Today, if I can. Good luck, Ren."

"Good luck, Sensei." I said, waving at him as he turned around, "And… thank you." I added as he left.

 _One day, my heart will break, and I'll release the Soul of the Ten Suns, so that the world itself may break too. Is that my fate?_

* * *

"...and I'm gonna be the first female Hokage, dattebayo!"

My palm slowly reached up and came to rest over my face. She said that so loud half the academy probably heard it.

There were a couple sniggers. A few giggles and whispers. The instructor shushed the kids with a snap and then motioned for Kushina to take a seat. She stepped down from the front of the room, looked around uncertainly for a moment as she realised she couldn't see any in open view. After a few seconds, she walked to the window and grabbed a seat by a girl with short, dark hair and elegant features.

I saw this all through the window, of course. I was prodigious, but I wasn't so good that they would skip me ahead by two years straight off the bat.

Peering around her class through the window, I began to pick out features. A plump boy with red hair sitting together with a lean, slouched kid with spiky black hair. A guy with messy hair clutching a puppy in his lap, probably an Inuzuka.

And of course, a boy with blonde hair and a big smile lounging in his seat at the back of the room, sending glances Kushina's way. Minato Namikaze.

After that, I was introduced to my own class. They were all a year older than me, and none were of note. Literally none. I wasn't around them long enough to get all their names, and the ones I did didn't strike a chord.

At least the academy was interesting enough. Contrary to what popular belief and most other SIs I'd read a lifetime ago claimed, it wasn't dull at all. Maths was simple. Language was smooth. But history was really interesting.

There's nothing quite like applying an adult's perspective and knowledge into what is taught in elementary school history. The same thing went for combat theory, chakra theory, chakra control, and weapon handling, and finally taijutsu.

The last two were, of course, what I looked forwards to the most. For my first week in academy, at least. As it turned out, my skill in melee, whether with weapons or with my body, was only average. My aim with ranged weapons was surprisingly good.

Before the first two months ended, though, I was approached by the instructor. They moved me up by a year. I was now a five-year old in a class of seven and eight-year olds.

Theory began to rock more and taijutsu began to suck more. But I still stayed ahead of the curve. A kid can get excited and overeager during a practice spar. I didn't. I approached it slowly, methodically.

And before the year was out, I was shunted up yet another year.

Kushina's eyes kind of popped out when I walked into her class, cool as cucumber, and took the empty seat beside her. It was autumn and the cherry blossoms were in full shed.

She immediately made her way over to me. "Don't tell me…"

I gave her a wide, beaming smile, "I'm in this class now."

"Wow," she exclaimed, "I knew you were smart, but not this smart." Then she puts her hands on her hips. "But you made a mistake!"

I looked at her quizzically, "What did I do?"

"You're my little cousin!" She reached out and pinched my cheeks hard before I could stop her, "You're not allowed to surpass me! As punishment, you can buy me ramen after school." She finished with a firm nod of her hand.

I chuckled, "Okay, sis!", as I grabbed a nearby seat that Kushina indicated was usually empty and sat down to wait for the class proper.

This was on a day when we were both early. The rest of the class filtered in over the next few minutes. Minato was arguing loudly with Tsume Inuzuka as they entered. Choza Akimichi led Shikako Nara in while munching on… a packet of breakfast cereal?

Our chunin instructor came in after almost everyone had come in. I later learned his name was Araki Umino, which probably made him Iruka Umino's dad or uncle, and as soon as we had taken our seats, he beckoned me to the front.

"Today, we have a new classmate. Please welcome him." He said as I stepped up to the front.

"Hi!" I said, "I'm Renaro Uzumaki, but you may or may not have heard of me as Kushina-nee's cousin. I might be a little young, but I'm sure we'll get along!"

Someone else might've spoken of their dream there, like, Kushina did. I didn't, because even at that time whatever I dreamed of was too sensitive to share with a bunch of kids and a mostly-random chunin instructor.

I returned to my seat as the lesson began. It followed on in the same vein as most of my other classes over the past few months, but this time, he was having us do middle-school level mathematics and historical events I hadn't ever even vaguely heard of. I still topped in weapons-throwing, though Minato was pretty good too, and I came out middle of the scale in taijutsu. This class was chock full of Clan Heirs and older kids, and unlike my previous opponents they didn't fall so easily for any baiting moves or feints I used.

Also the clan heirs were unfair. Choza knocked me down with one punch and he wasn't even using size-expansion jutsu, just his natural body and training.

Well, I suppose if I'd lived and been trained in Uzushio, I would've wiped the floor with him at my age. But Mito-baa didn't really let us train to the limit, and she was particularly strict on that with me. Maybe she was trying to avoid the burnout tat could come? I wasn't worried about that: I knew my limits and could handle my training.

We eventually started learning jutsu. I had a nice, big amount of chakra to play around with, I learned. My control was top-notch, probably because I'd already been using it for a long time up till now. The academy three were a breeze, and I couldn't wait to learn elemental transformation jutsu.

On one summer morning, a few months after I myself joined the class, we had a new classmate who'd, like me, been moved up from the class below us. She had dark eyes and dark hair framing a slender face, with elegant features that made her look a lot older than her seven years. I stopped joking around with Minato to stare at her as she entered the room and introduced herself, before sitting down next to me.

That was how I first met Okita.

* * *

Konoha was recovering. Slowly, perhaps, but definitely recovering. The scars of the battle against the Kyuubi had been covered up, the majority of the injured people had recovered and almost all funeral rites had been completed.

Obito Uchiha was still under intensive care He hadn't woken up yet, and Tsunade spoke of extreme chakra exhaustion and severe strain and damage on his eyes.

His eyes, which had _changed_. Despite my attempts at suppressing the information, his clan's district was a buzz with the whispers that a child of the Uchiha had awoken the nigh-legendary _Mangekyo Sharingan_ once again.

Yet another fucking headache I didn't need.

I frowned, when I felt a familiar, slithery chakra arrive nearby. The door opened, and the third Sannin entered.

He looked exactly the same as ever, his lanky hair falling to his shoulders. He wore the same old-fashioned tunic as he did, and had the same smile.

'It seems… I missed quite a bit of action," he said languorously.

"Orochimaru," I said coldly, "You're back early. Are you certain you completed the mission?"

He slithered down into one of the chairs, looking in all the world as if he owned it. "Of course, my dear Hokage," he hissed out, "Who do you take me for?"

I sighed, then gestured with my fingers. There was a tiny instant of hesitation, then Tiger and Ram flickered away. Once I made sure no one was in earshot or observing, I turned my focus back to Orochimaru.

"Show me the items. Now." I ordered.

With a dramatic flourish, the Snake Sannin unfurled a scroll with an elaborate storage seal and laid it upon my desk. Pressing one palm to it, he poured chakra into it, and the croll began to glow blue.

Four items popped out.

"Beautiful…" I whispered. Their chakra, their design, their power, it was beautiful. A great fan, its feathers glimmering with hues of silver and crimson. A golden rope, glowing with a rich inner light. A strangely shaped blade of blue steel. A small gourd, its crafting smooth and exquisite.

The Treasured Tools of the Sage of Six Paths.

"Well done," I murmured, "Well done, Orochimaru. I trust it wasn't easy?"

At that, Orochimaru grimaced, just a little bit. "If you'd sent anyone else, Kumo would be declaring war right now and you'd be a ninja or three short." He replied.

"I had confidence in you. I'm glad to see it wasn't misplaced." I stood up and sealed the items back in. I could examine them in depth later. "You're dismissed, have fun. But I want you nowhere near the Hospital, is that clear?"

Orochimaru looked curious for a moment, but nodded and slunk out.

"Ughh." I groaned, putting my face on my desk, as my ANBU bodyguards came in. "Tiger," I motioned at the man, "Please put out the word that Orochimaru of the Sannin is _not_ allowed anywhere near Obito Uchiha. Let Tsunade-hime know, too."

I may have given Orochimaru all of ROOT to play with and entrusted several highly sensitive missions to him, but that didn't mean I trusted him with things that were precious to me. Especially not where a comatose Uchiha and a Mangekyo Sharingan was concerned.

There was a light knock at the door. My assistant came in, bearing a large box piled high with paperwork. I took one look at it, and made handseals. Despite all the things I was dealing with on a daily basis, this part remained the worst thing about being a Hokage. No wonder Naruto, by trying to fully handle this workload, had royally screwed up his relationship with his own son

Ram stayed behind in the office to give the illusion that the real Hokage was sitting here and working his life away. Tiger was the one to always run with me.

I dropped my coat, picked up the storage scroll and Hoyui'yan from where it rested beside my desk, and leapt out of the window. I had important work to do.


	5. Black Days - III

I dropped and swept out with my legs. Okita jumped off the ground, spinning in midair, her hands reaching to grapple me. I deflected her arms with a quick motion, and then her legs smashed into my face, sending me tumbling backwards.

 _That fucking hurt._

One of my teeth had come loose. But it was just the last of my milk teeth. I spat it out.

Being beaten up and beating others up for years helps build up a lot of pain tolerance. I think enhancing your body with chakra also cushioned it a little and numbed a little bit of pain. Whatever the case was, if I'd gotten hit like that anytime before, I would've been weeping on the ground for days.

But her and now, I simply coated my legs in chakra for an additional burst of speed and rocketed towards Okita. She raised her hands in a guarding stance. At the last moment, I rotated in midair, turning my legs towards her, and forced every last iota of my considerable chakra into my feet and _out_.

Raw chakra exploded out from my lower limbs like a cannon, slamming into Okita. She was already on her last legs. The blow knocked her down flat.

But something about the way she fell nagged at me… then she disappeared.

Clone. Substitution. Behind me.

I scrabbled in the dirt for my kunai, which still lay several steps away where I'd disarmed her and gotten disarmed myself for the trouble. I reached and grasped it an instant before Okita slashed at my exposed back. Our kunai connected with a ringing clang that echoed around the 'arena'.

She hacked and slashed at me. Five, ten, fifteen strikes. I blocked and parried. Five, ten, fourteen times. The last hit opened up my shoulder, but it was a shallow cut.

I could tell she was weary. Her feet were moving slowly, sluggishly, even. She was pumping all her remaining energy and chakra into her arms just to keep attacking.

She attacked again, and I deflected again. The force of her blow sent my kunai spinning away. It glinted in the sunlight once, then disappeared off to the side in the grass.

Before she could stab me for real, I held my arms apart and called out "Yield!"

The proctor studied us for a moment, before nodding and whistling. "Renaro Uzumaki yields! The match goes to Oki-"

He was cut off by simultaneous loud cheers and groans from both sides by our classmates. Shibi Aburame coolly handed out slips to those who had bet on Okita. Kushina grumbled to Mikoto and gave me a stare that suggested I should find alternative living arrangements for the next few… months.

Okita looked down at me with lidded eyes. "Thank you." She murmured, her usual facade evaporated under the weight of her tiredness. Her kunai clattered to the ground. Then she collapsed on top of me. I yelped in surprise and caught her.

Araki-sensei was on her in an instant. After examining her for a few moments, he declared it was just a mild case of exhaustion, and that she would be fine in an hour or two. This fight had been the finals of the Combined Melee Combat evaluation for our Academy Graduation exams.

I was scared for tomorrow. I frankly had no idea whatsoever who would I be teamed with. I would be the shinobi of the year, I was fairly certain, while Mikoto would take kunoichi of the year. But Okita was better than Mikoto, though for some reason she intentionally kept her overall scores lower than Mikoto's. Kushina was somewhere in the top five. Minato was above average, but everyone knew he didn't apply himself and preferred doodling and pranking people. Shikaku was pretty similar, and Choza was usually content with placing a few ranks above him.

"She really went all out, didn't she?" Mikoto asked as she approached, picking up Okita with Minato's help. Even though she'd fallen unconscious, she'd technically won. I'd yielded, so she'd probably be marked top.

"So did Ren. Too bad-" Minato said, staring at me accusingly.

"Oh, c'mon!" I gave him a glare, "Don't tell me you bet on me too! You knew she's just as good as me. I told you it could go either way," I half-shouted as I slowly stood up, my legs aching and shaking like crazy from the dumb maneuver I'd made. Someone appeared at my shoulder to prop me up.

"Thanks, Choza." I said, taking his bag of cereal from him and holding it out for him so he could hold me up with one arm and still eat.

"Actually…" Minato said as he held up a piece of paper. It was a waiver for a free meal ticket to the Purple Oni, a favourite establishment in Konoha for academy students. It probably closed down sometime before canon started, but otherwise it was a pretty good place to eat. He held it in front of me and winked.

I lunged for it, "You bastard! You're not allowed to bet against me! You're profiting off off my blood and sweat! I'll tell Kushina!" But Minato had already flickered several paces away, laughing madly.

"Kushina-neee!~"

* * *

"I'm sorry."

I blinked. I was sitting by Obito's bedside. He'd woken up at last, though most of his body and his eyes were still bandaged

"I apologise for my actions, Hokage-sama. I shouldn't have left to go after Kakashi alone."

"Wait," I said, holding a hand up, "When did you leave to search for him?"

"In the evening, Hokage-sama. Perhaps three hours before my night shift started." That would've been four hours before the Kyuubi appeared.

His voice was dead. He had seen Kakashi die.

"Tell me everything," I said, standing up to pace around the room, "In detail." The heart monitor continued to beep.

Obito cleared his throat and shifted in his bed. "Just after dark, I set off to look for Kakashi. I assumed my Sharingan and my knowledge of how he travels would allow me to pick up on any trail others may have missed. I directed my search towards the northern side of the village. My search led me to a spot just to the south of the Valley of the End, where I found Kakashi injured and fleeing towards Konoha. We were then attacked by a masked shinobi."

"Describe the mask." I cut in.

"Grey, with a dark spiral pattern through it. Two eye-slits.

Tobi. The same person who attacked us. The same mask as Obito Uchiha had worn in canon.

"What happened then?" I whispered, knowing the answer already.

"We fought," Obito continued tonelessly, "He was faster and stronger than me. Kakashi attempted to use his Chidori and was cut down. I couldn't save him. Then my eyes changed. I pulled myself and Kakashi… somewhere."

"Kamui." I said softly, "A black sky, with floors and walls of gray stone."

The faintest hint of surprise crept into Obito's voice. "You know that place, Hokage-sama?"

"I know of it," I replied, "We can talk about that later. Go on."

"I tried to heal Kakashi, but I couldn't. My eyes were bleeding. I fell unconscious in there. As soon as I came to, I headed for Konoha. This… Kamui allowed me to appear straight to your office, where you found me. That is all."

"You were unconscious for four days without food or water?"I asked with an eyebrow raised. Without food, I could believe. Without water, unconscious and unable to use any chakra reinforcement techniques? It was a miracle he survived. No, not a miracle. There was almost certainly something more to it. Something I wasn't seeing right there, but hopefully, Tsunade, who was watching, would.

"I believe so, Hokage-sama. Is there anything else you wish to know?"

I couldn't stand his normally so lively voice sounding so dead and lifeless. I'd obtained the information I needed to and I just didn't want to stay there and listen. _I'm so goddamn weak_.

"No, that'll be all. Rin's been worried about you, you should see her. Rest well, Obito." I said as I left the room.

Tsunade met me in the corridor outside. It was a room in the 'secure' ward, and all patients were observed. She'd listened to the entirety of our conversation. There were ANBU guards lining the walls, but Tsunade shooed them to the other end of the corridor to give the two of us some privacy.

"He didn't go four days without eating or drinking. He went two days at most. Someone fed him in between." She told me curtly. It'd been a good idea to let her sit on.

Someone who also had access to the Kamui dimension. A second Mangekyo roamed the elemental nations.

"Are you telling me the same man who unleashed the Nine-Tails, killed Kakashi, killed Kushina, _saved_ Obito? Why?"

"I don't know that." Tsunade said, "But I don't think he wanted that fact to be known. That's why he did the minimum to keep Obito alive. I would've missed it myself if not for what Obito said now."

"There's more," she said, holding up a file to me and flipping it to a certain page, "His clothes had four different peoples' blood on them. His own, Kakashi's, yours, and ANBU Tiger's."

"Not Tobi's?" I asked, to which Tsunade held up an image of the cloth. I could clearly see it had been burned to char at certain points, any blood left on those spots unrecognisable. And yet, the pieces were coming together. Some of them, at least.

Tobi had encountered and attacked Kakashi, then Obito. After killing Kakashi and seeing Obito travel to the Kamui dimension, Tobi followed him there and took unconscious Obito's clothes as a disguise. Then Tobi had taken Obito's place in my office, perhaps using a genjutsu to conceal any differences in their chakras and appearances, before attacking me and releasing the Kyuubi.

No doubt he had also waited until the next morning to take the Kyuubi. That would've been when our strength would've been at the lowest, after a difficult night of battle and a strenuous sealing.

And in the meantime, after taking Kushina, he had apparently returned Obito's uniform and fed and watered him. That was the shakiest part of the whole theoretical sequence of events.

One question still remained, however.

 _Who the fuck was Tobi and why was he doing this?_

I needed more information. "Tiger, grab me the full squad." I commanded, "We're heading out."

It took less than three minutes for them to assemble. Four ANBU: Tiger, Ram, Fox, Otter, arrayed themselves in a square with me at the center.

"North." Was all I said, and shot off.

As Hokage, I fell behind my predecessors and even peers when it came to physical ability. My speed, wasn't much further than high-Jounin level, as both the Sandaime Raikage and future Yondaime had taught me. With fists to the face and blood streaming out of holes all over my body. I wasn't even particularly gifted in Taijutsu or Genjutsu: Might Guy, once he was a little older, could probably take the current me without opening past the Second Gate.

But my Bingo Book entry for Iwa still said, "Flee on Report." My entry by Kumo simply stated: "Do not engage". Kiri said "Do not retaliate."

This time around, the Third Raikage hadn't fought ten-thousand Iwagakure shinobi. I had.

My right arm and waist tingled a little at that memory. I shrugged it off and continued running through the trees.

It took our group of five a few hours to reach the spot where Kakashi had died. It was secluded, far from any roads or villages. There was nothing remarkable about it: just another patch of forested land that would otherwise have been ignored for the rest of its existence.

But it was where Kakashi Hatake, one of the most pivotal characters in canon, had died.

The ground was blackened and scorched. I could make out the telltale signs of where Obito had used his Great Fireball jutsu. Kakashi's Chidori had scored in a gash into the earth a hundred meters long, within which the soil was glassy. There were detritus from the battle all around: half formed earth walls, broken earth walls, craters and gouges in the earth, shredded bits and pieces of cloth and armour and steel, and blood.

I stepped over a fallen tree and ducked under a low-hanging branch. I clambered over an Earth Wall that seemed like it had been sliced in half with a flaming implement to reach the center of the area.

"Otter," I ordered, "What do your eyes see?"

The Hyuga's Byakugan was hidden behind his mask, but as he activated it, he stood perfectly still, observing the landscape all around silently. After a few moments, he answered.

"There are signs of fighting all the way north and around the west side of the Valley of the End. They're scattered. I believe Hatake was chased by Tobi from somewhere along the northwestern side, in the direction of Amegakure.

"So, Kakashi encountered Tobi somewhere in that direction." I muttered to myself, "Outmatched, he began to flee back to Konoha, where he encountered Obito. The two made their stand together right here."

I could almost imagine it. Kakashi and Obito, standing back to back, kunai and tanto raised, Obito's Sharingan active and flickering madly left and right as he tried to keep track of Tobi. The three clashing, Obito and Kakashi driven back. Kakashi moving ahead to engage Tobi in close range, Obito moving to the back to use his Fire Style. Tobi dodging or phasing through the Great Fireball.

Tobi using his own Fire Style. Kakashi using Earth Walls to block them, using wide-angle lightning attacks in retaliation.

Then Obito engaging Tobi in close range, trying to pin him down so the duo could hit them with their strongest attacks. The Chidori sparking to life, shooting forwards, and then Kakashi's own life blinking out.

Here it was. Blood splashed in a wide scatter pattern on the ground, painting a fan into the dirt. Kakashi had been impaled straight through the heart and out the back, an ironic reversal of what the Chidori would've done to Tobi.

I collapsed before that spot.

"Kakashi, I'm sorry. Minato, I'm sorry."

My ANBU promptly looked away from me at that moment.

I wiped away a stray tear, then stood back up. "Let's go back to Konoha. We won't learn anything more here."

The ANBU simultaneously nodded and motioned to set off. I joined them, and froze. A boulder nearby had caught my eye. One that was scored with black marks all in a line, like it had been struck with a blade made up of tiny motes of fire.

It was so much like Okita's Flame Whip. I moved in closer to examine it. It _was_ the Flame Whip, no doubt.

That narrowed my list of suspects… just a little. Anyone who had been old enough to learn it, before Okita's death. I knew it wasn't Okita herself, because I'd carried her dead body in my hands and buried it myself in that grave up there in the Land of the Rabbits, where she was left undisturbed.

"Yeah," I told my bodyguards, "We're done here. Let's go home."

Home. Then I would find Tobi. Then I would avenge everyone who died at his hands.

* * *

All reviews are welcome!

The story is actually posted mainly on Sufficient Velocity. I just crosspost it here a few days after I've posted an SV update, once I've stopped procrastinating and finished making final touches.


	6. Black Days - IV

"Hey, Konan," I asked, "Do you remember the first thing I said to you?"

She looked up at me pensively. "Yes. _I want to save this world._ "

"And you laughed."

Konan flushed a little at that. "Why're you bringing that up now?" She poked me in the chest a little too hard.

"No real reason," I smiled, "I'm just reminiscing. I pulled the blankets off and swung my legs off the bed. Outside, the village was quiet, almost sleepy. The distant scars in the land were gone by now.

Konan sat up beside me, rubbing her hands in her hair to pull apart a couple knots. After a moment, she said, "It looks so peaceful now. In Ame, the clouds would be grey. It might be raining, whether Nagato kept it up or not."

"Mhm…" I nodded, making a vaguely acquiescing sound.

Konan pulled at my shoulder, "Hey, what're you thinking? You've been quiet since you got back."

"I-" Shaking my head, I stood up, "It's nothing." I brushed aside some of the paper cranes and flowers that drifted my way, agitated as I walked to the window and looked out. The sun, _one sun, not ten_ , was rising, its soft light washing over the village hidden in the leaves.

"Please, Ren." Konan had wrapped a shift around herself and joined me at the window, "You don't fool me. Please tell me what's wrong."

I made a disgusted sound at the back of my throat. "It's me. I-I don't know, I've been like this for a long time, since I was a child."

"Like… what?" There was a trail of paper figurines, like some stately procession, from her feet to the bed. They all stood silently.

"Like I don't feel anything." I said, "Jiraiya-sensei told me just before he left. But he's not correct… well, fully correct. He said that I burn too bright, too hot, and instinctively I force myself to hold it in. That's true, just a little, but there's another part of it…"

I looked at her with a sigh, "I _don't care_. When the Kyuubi appeared, my first thought was how I'd screwed up. But I also just thought of… how hard I could push it. How I could show off, how many _Suns_ I could strike it with.

"And after that, when Kushina disappeared, I just… lost her. That's it. Look at Minato. Look at me. And I'm not even sad or angry. I'm just… hollow. I have to focus myself, stay on Tobi's trail, otherwise, I just… don't have anything to do. I don't grieve."

"And you know why that is?" I asked her, turning around.

"It has something to do with your foreknowledge?"

"It has everything to do with it!" I said right back, throwing my arms up. "I- I don't _feel_ her death, because I know she's not really gone forever."

Looking directly at her, "Do you know of the _Impure World Reincarnation?_ Our Nidaime's _Edo Tensei_? Or even Nagato's _Samsara_ _of Heavenly Rebirth_? There're just… so many ways of resurrecting her and I'm afraid and don't know if I _should_."

Konan said quietly, "You never told me what exactly happened that night. In the other world."

"Tobi showed up, released the Kyuubi. Minato fought him and defeated him, but the Kyuubi rampaged through Konoha. They didn't have near the amount of firepower we do. Minato used the Death God Seal to split the Kyuubi' chakra in half and sealed one half into Naruto, the other into himself, but as a last effort, the Kyuubi killed him and Kushina. They gave their lives to protect Naruto." I glanced at the door to the next room, where said child was sleeping peacefully. He hadn't been much of a hassle, actually. Konan followed my gaze

She also looked horrified, "And Naruto? He grew up an orphan?"

After all, she knew what it was like being an orphan.

"Yeah. An Orphan and a _jinchuuriki_ , almost universally despised by the populace of Konoha as a demon, despite whatever Minato or the Sandaime told them."

"That's… terrible."

I nodded solemnly, "Yes. And it'll never happen here. Naruto will have people who love him, and he's not a container for the nine-tails. Once Minato returns, I'll tell him about the _Edo Tensei_. I'll let him make the choice."

Konan smiled wanly, "You do that. Whatever you might think of yourself, you're not heartless, Ren."

* * *

"Inojin Yamanaka, Shikaku Nara and Choza Akimichi. You're team Ten. Your Jounin instructor will meet you by Training Ground 21."

 _Ino-Shika-Cho_ , _as expected_ , I mused. Beside me, Minato remarked almost the same way I did, "Ino-Shika-Cho? Someone likes their Hanafuda…"

"Hideaki Hyuga, Shibi Aburame, Miza Inuzuka, Team Eight." Araki-sensei continued, listing off the names.

I sat up a little at that. _Are you serious? A Hyuuga, an Inuzuka and an Aburame? This isn't even funny; history repeats, and it repeats all the way through..._

"Kushina Uzumaki, Mikoto Uchiha, Hiro Yamado, Team Six." I gave Kushina a thumbs-up. Teams with an inversed gender ratio were rare, but at least Kushina and Mikoto would be on a team together. They were close friends.

Except Mikoto had been Kunoichi of the Year, and Kushina and Hiro were pretty good, even if the latter was a civilian-kid. What did that leave me?

"Team Seven-"

I couldn't believe my luck, for one, and for second, this was fishy.

Because putting me, Minato and Okita together on a team threw any semblance of 'balance' out of the window. Three prodigies on one team, one of whom would, in a different world, go on to become the Yondaime Hokage.

 _The Hokage pulled strings. He wants three prodigies under Jiraiya, no doubt_.

But then the others filed out, one by one.

"Please don't tell me he's going to be late." I said out loud. Minto gave me a half shrug. Okita just stared at me with her cold eyes for a moment, then turned away.

Okita was always… quiet. She didn't talk much or even care much. And she could be vicious. Cold and vicious and fiercely hot. I'd only managed to get her to warm up to me marginally. I'd only seen her be a little softer than usual a handful of times, such as yesterday's spar.

"And that's why you have much to learn, young genin!" A loud voice came from the doorway.

Jiraiya was tall. And wide. He wore his usual outfit, but his hair was shorter than usual, only reaching past his shoulders. It was still white and shaggy like a lion's mane like the namesake techniques he could use with it. His eyes twinkled with amusement at our startled movements as he appeared there so suddenly.

"For a shinobi is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to arrive. Particularly, if said shinobi is the Gallant Jiraiya, known across the elemental nations, favoured by women, from the West, to the East-!"

"Yeah, you're definitely known across the continent. By bathhouse security." I muttered. While having a minor brain fart about _how on earth did he make both a Star Wars and a Lord of the Rings reference without even knowing it?_

Jiraiya zeroed in on me. "Why, you cheeky little-"

"Oh, my god!" Minato came to my rescue, "You're the legendary Toad Sage, the Hokage's student _!_ "

Jiraiya smiled at Minato. "It's nice to see at least one of you knows respect."

Okita remaind silent. Jiraiya glanced her way, as if expecting her to say something, but when nothing was forthcoming, he turned around.

"I'll give you ten minutes. Meet me by the Hokage Monument, then we can talk more. See you." And he disappeared in a blink.

I froze, glancing at the clock on the wall.

"We're not going to make it." I said.

Even Okita's eyes widened fractionally, while I and Minato literally tore out of the room. She came on our trail and caught up to us as we dropped down the stairs two stories at a time. We exploded out the door of the academy, earning scathing looks from several teachers but an amused grin from Araki-sensei, who had been just outside the door.

It took us eleven minutes. Eleven minutes of streaking through Konoha at our top speed, overturning carts, brushing by civilians, listening to other ninja chuckle at the sight of thee genins running so fast.

Minato reached there first. Fastest man alive indeed. He used a body flicker to travel the last couple hundred meters and dropped out of the air in front of an amused Jiraiya, who sat on a rock, jotting down notes. Okita dropped beside him, then I came in a few seconds later.

We were both exhausted and sweating buckets. Minato looked like he would hurl.

Jiraiya pretended to work on his notebook for a few moments, as we caught our breath.

"Sorry we're late, Sensei."

He threw a crumped up wad of paper at us.

"Just what did I tell you three, _just now_?" He asked.

"Oh." I realised, "I hate you already."

Minato looked at me blankly. I panted a few more times, then explained, "He told us 'a shinobi is never late' first thing. We're not late. And he didn't actually tell us to meet him here in ten minutes. He just gave us ten minutes. For makes no sense. Its the only possibility."

He looked at me, mouth flapping for fifteen full seconds. "I think I hate you too." He said to Jiraiya, who just chuckled.

"Okay, then," he said, shoving the notebook and pen back into a pocket of his coat, "Since we're all here, I guess we can talk about each other. I'm sure you guys already know each other, but let's go over it again. Names, like, dislikes, hobbies, dreams, that stuff."

"Why don't you go first, sensei? As an example?" I asked.

"Sure," Jiraiya leaned back, "I'm Jiraiya the Toad Sage, you already know, beloved by wo-"

"...can we skip that part?"

"You talk too freaking much, kid. I like women, interesting seals, my toads and certain women. I dislike certain people, people who lie, cheat and murder and people who think their animals are better than my dear toads. My dreams… you kids are too young to hear that. My hobbies include peeping into bathhouses, an art I'll surely teach to you kids when you're older, writing, dabbling with seals, and a few other things."

Okita had her lips drawn on tight.

Minato went next. "My name's Minato Namikaze. I like dabbling in seals too, my friends, and ramen when Kushina takes me out. I dislike people who are too gloomy and people who are rude for no reason, and fish. My hobbies… I do a lot of stuff. My dream is to become Hokage… and there's a certain girl too…"

I gave him a sideways glance with narrowed eyes. Jiraiya pointed at Okita next.

"My name is Okita Uchiha. I like few people, but Renaro-kun is in that group. Namikaze-san is not.."

My jaw dropped, and I had a few weird thought for a moment.

"I dislike people who are too obnoxious. I also dislike perverts. I don't have hobbies. My dream is to… make some things right."

"Heavy stuff for someone your age." Jiraiya sensei glanced at Okita, a certain light in his eyes.

I was last. "My name is Renaro Uzumaki. I like a lot of things, including the Ten Suns, good books, spicy food, nice people, and Kushina-nee. I don't dislike many things, I think I just adjust or ignore them straightaway. My hobbies include reading and writing and practicing archery.

"My dream," I paused for a moment there, "My dream is to save this world. To lead it to light beneath the glow of Ten Suns."

* * *

All reviews are appreciated!


	7. Amber Skies - I

We showed up at Training Ground Six the next morning. It looked identical to where both Teams 7 I'd seen in canon had done the bell test.

It was a bright, sunny morning, and we were at the bridge at seven in the morning, sharp, when Jiraiya-sensei appeared. But he looked a little different from yesterday. There was a harder cast to his features, and his eyes looked over us with a hint of judgement.

"You overly smart brats may or may not know this, but there is still one more test to go." Jiraiya said sternly.

"But-" Minato protested. "Didn't we already give the exams to graduate the academy?"

"We're genin. We're not his students yet." Okita clarified.

"Oh." Understanding dawned on Minato.

I glanced at the toad sage. "So, what's the test."

He smiled. It wasn't the nice, warm and inviting kind of smile. "Your task will be to retrieve a bell from my person. The ones who don't have a bell, by the end of the day, will fail and be sent back to the academy."

I frowned. "You aren't allowed to do that, though. You either pass the whole team, or fail the whole team. Breaking up genin teams goes against tenets set down by the Nidaime."

"Heh," Jiraiya chuckled, "You know your history. However, I can fail the whole team, and then take on one of you as a personal apprentice rather than a whole genin team. That one person will be the one who gets this."

He held up a small silver bell. One.

 _Oh fuck. What. The fuck. One fucking bell?_

"Off you go. You have until lunch to get this bell, or you can kiss goodbye to being a proper genin." He turned and walked off towards a rock at the center of the field.

And I suddenly had a very horrible, sinking feeling.

Minato's genin teammates had never shown up in Canon. Could it be… that he never had them? That Jiraiya ended up teaching him and him alone?

I was scared and freaked out. Somehow, Minato was the one to keep us all together. He had his game face on and called us into a huddle.

"Anyone got any ideas?" He asked in a hushed voice.

"We need to work together on this. It doesn't matter if he wants to pick only one of us or not, we stick together, act together. Are you with me?" I asked.

Minato nodded vigorously. After a moment's hesitation, Okita said, "Yes."

"Okay, listen," I said, the inklings of a plan coming together in my head, "We can't take him head on, and he knows that. But he won't be taking us seriously, so there's a small, small chance we can do it. Okita, do you know any elemental jutsu, you know, Uchiha stuff?"

"I know Great Fireball. Several variants of it as well, all fire jutsus."

I nodded, "Hold them in reserve. He won't be caught by them easily. I have my fire style too, we can combine the two for maximum efficiency."

I began outlining a vague plan. The issue was, while all of us were fast and smart, we lacked any kind of force multipliers: no forbidden techniques and no bloodline limits. Unless Okita unlocked her Sharingan halfway through the fight or something. Big chance of that.

Minato was the fastest of us. And he carried a lot of tags on him. He wouldn't be Naruto "Kage-Bunshin-no-win-no-jutsu", but he'd be just as good.

"What exactly will you be doing?" Okita asked me. I hadn't mentioned my part in the plan.

"Well," I said, "I'm glad I bought this along."

I unfurled a storage scroll and unsealed it. A long slender object popped out. It was a simple bow, designed to be drawn by ninja rather than ordinary hunters.

Ninja didn't favour bows. They took too much time to learn, used up both hands and so prevented seal usage, and they just disdained it, calling it a 'common hunter's weapon'. Well, I could understand those concerns, but my strengths were in how fast I could manipulate my hands and how well I could shoot at distant targets, with chakra-enhanced eyes and hands.

And this thing had certain advantages that I'd milk to all its worth against Jiraiya.

"Let's go." I said, and flickered off to the side, jumping straight into the forest. Jiraiya still relaxed on a rock in the middle of the field.

I watched from the trees. Most likely, Jiraiya had a bead on me, but he hadn't moved yet. Not even twitched to react. I had to remind myself that this wasn't the merely 'S-Class' Kakashi, but the Kage-level Jiraiya of the soon-to-be-Sannin.

Okita wasn't visible, but I could see Minato walk right up to Jiraiya. The two exchanged a few words. I kept an eye on them.

There was a little puff of smoke, and Jiraiya vanished. Minato looked bewildered for a moment, then we both started looking around frantically.

"Looking for someone?" He was right behind me. Before I could turn around, he _kicked_ me, straight through several meters of trees and out on the field. I rolled several meters like some kind of human tumbleweed before stopping.

"Renaro!" Minato shouted. But to his credit, he didn't run to help me but rather moved to intercept Jiraiya. The two of them engaged in melee furiously, though Jiraiya just… kind of batted away and warded off all of Minato's attacks with one arm in a manner reminiscent of Emiya Kiritsugu against Kirei Kotomine.

Then Minato started pulling out his explosive tags and slapping them onto Jiraiya's arms. I didn't see what happened after that, because I was busy running back into the cover of the trees.

This time, though, I kept a better eye on him. He'd pulled that shadow clone trick so easily on us. Before, he'd suppressed his chakra almost completely, but having engaged in actual combat, it was more visible now.

 _Minato… you're supposed to pull him this way. Any moment now…_

True to his word, Minato suddenly broke from the fight and ran straight into the forest. I moved off, perpendicular to the two, still keeping an eye on Jiraiya however.

Our sensei just stood there for a second, then shrugged and dashed in after Minato.

 _Thwap._

Thwap.

Crrthwap!

Yeah, that'd be the sound of Minato substituting with spiked logs and entire small trees.

Trees that Okita had uprooted entirely, set on fire, then thrown using explosive tags blasting in specific directions. Apparently, Minato could substitute with something and have it retain momentum. The giant flaming projectiles gave even Jiraiya a pause for a moment.

I began to dash towards our sensei, arrows nocked. I fired a second before Okita appeared.

Arrows travel much faster than kunai, even when burdened down by tags. I didn't need to hit sensei, just get it near him to trigger the flash tags. They exploded. "Okita, now!" I shouted loud and clear.

She was there in an instant, opposite Jiraiya from across me, hands finished making a seal.

 _Fire Style: Great Fireball!_ And she blew out.

Her fireball was kindof big.

Red and yellow light engulfed my entire view. A scorching wall of fire several meters wide and taller than the trees billowed forth. Jiraiya had an instant to drop to the ground, a sealless Earth Wall rising up to block it.

Too bad, then, that Okita had also buried Minato's explosive tags all over the ground. The very same ground that Jiraiya was standing on, that he had just used to build that Earth Wall.

The wall detonated a split second after it rose to full height. The sound was incredible. The wall literally disintegrated, showers of dirt flying out in all directions, some of the pieces large and fast enough to be deadly. Through the rubble of the wall, Okita's Fireball roared onwards.

There was so much light and sound and fury.

And we weren't halfway done yet.

Except Jiraiya was nowhere to be seen.

Oh, there he was. Standing beside Minato.

Minato's face went slack in the space of a single second. He just dropped without another word. Genjutsu, I realised. Jiraiya might've been a slacker at that, but he was still far better at it than any of us.

Okita seemed to realise the danger. She leapt into melee now, her kunai a steely blur of motion.

 _Damnit, we need Minato, damnit._

Without Minato we couldn't reliably get the bell. Damn.

I pulled more arrows, and began to fire off. I didn't have to be careful about hitting Okita because I wasn't aiming for Jiraiya. I was aiming for the trees behind him.

The arrows impaled on trees. With explosive tags attached. They detonated one by one, like cascading dominoes falling in a line, blanketing the two melee combatants in fire. At the same time, Okita had dodged backwards, another Great Fireball erupting from her lips.

I pulled another arrow on my string, this one with chakra infused in it. Just a basic thing, one I'd been experimenting with. Even as I shot it, the arrow caught fire in midair. Ouch, that's too early, jutsu wasn't stable. The arrow exploded, showing the ground with splinters.

"Renaro! Get Minato out! I'll hold him"

Get him out? What for?

Oh.

The forest was on freaking fire, which was fine according to our plans. But Minato was helpless. I flickered to the blond's side in an instant, picked him over my shoulder, nearly collapsing under the weight. He was a lot of deadweight. Okita was older than me, but she had less physical strength than I did.

"Can we move this fight out of this place?" Okita was asking Jiraiya nicely.

"Nope. Those two sunnies can go, through. I'll carry your unconscious body out later."

Okita met my eyes. _Go_ , she said.

I shambled on, the forest fire licking at my heels. It took me several minutes to half-carry half-drag Minato out of the area. My body was sweating like crazy, my hands too slippery to keep a tight hold on my teammate. My eyes stung from the smoke.

 _We fucked up, we fucked up._

My quiver slipped off my shoulders somewhere at the edge of the forest. I left it there.

I'd barely put Minato down outside on the grass a distance from the burning forest when Jiraiya strolled out, carting Okita over his shoulders. I didn't even get the chance to wake him up or just determine how strong the genjutsu was.

"Well," He said, "That's two out of three."

Fortunately, he tossed Okita's body at me. I didn't so much as catch her as cushion her impact and collapse beneath her.

"I thought you were some prodigy or something. Can't you even catch your lady?" He laughed.

I placed Okita to the side, beside Minato. She was breathing, with only a few bruises to show for it.

"Thanks," I said, slowly standing up. My body was aching all over, all my muscles about to drop dead from having carried Minato all this way. "For preventing friendly fire."

For Jiraiya had walked along the exact same path I had. So I reached out, and pulled the multitude chakra sources still connected to my chakra, all at once. My quiver, with still another fifteen arrows with explosive tags attached, was only a few paces behind him.

The explosion blanketed the sky and the force of the blast, even from as far as it was, sent me flying into blackness.

* * *

"Kumo did what?"

"They invaded Iwa, Hokage-sama." The chunin repeated. I wasn't sure what his name was. He was one of the border scouts, probably having had rushed all the way to Konoha with the message.

I sat silently for a moment. Beside me, Konan asked, "Why would they invade? Iwa and Kumo have been steadfast allies since the end of the Second War. Why would the Raikage invade his closest ally now, barely a year after the end of the last war?"

"Orochimaru," I looked at the sannin, barely holding in my pissed off-ness, "What was the situation like in Cloud when you were there?"

"If you're asking if I provoked the way, be assured I did not. It's merely the Raikage posturing."

"Posturing. Is that what you call it?" Tsunade growled at her former teammate, "Posturing, when it could very well lead to a Fourth Shinobi world war!"

I stood up, "It will not." I spoke with absolute command, heat and ferocity audible in my voice. "I will end any war before it begins. The Sandaime Raikage will not attack Konoha for as long as he lives. Sand lacks the men, the money or the strength to fight another war and Rasa knows this. Mist is still ravaged, all their attentions directed towards recapturing the Sanbi before it returns to the bottom of the ocean. That leaves us."

"We're much weaker now than in the last war. The events of the past weeks-" Tsunade began.

I cut her off, "Will not affect the overall military strength of Konohagakure. We- have no Jinchuuriki, but we've fought and won every single war without the Nine-Tails. Kushina never went out on the front lines like Han or Roshi or B."

Standing up, I placed my hands on the desk, "This I assure you all: Konoha stays out of this little war unless it comes to our borders. Let Cloud and Stone fight it out: they're nearly evenly matched. If needed, we can mop up the weakened winner. They're inviting their own demise by bleeding out men so soon after the end of the third. That'll be all, dismissed." I gestured the messenger away.

"Fuck those bigheaded warmongering p-" I grumbled as I sat back down.

Well, this was one thing I'd actually predicted would happen. Not this war in specific, but at least a significant divergence regarding Cloud.

After all, the Sandaime Raikage ruled, the strongest of the village to have ever lived. Not a Yondaime constantly under the shadow of his predecessor's reputation, charged with keeping his brother, a jinchuuriki, safe.

Still, he'd go to war? Again, at this time?

"Orochimaru, since your teammate isn't here, you get to handle intelligence. Find me everything about this little tiff of theirs." He was frankly the most suitable one for the task.

After that, there was simply small talk regarding the village and its running. The war was put aside for the moment. For it did not affect us yet.

Before we dispersed, Konan pulled me aside.

"Ren, Nagato just sent me a message. He wants to meet with you. It's urgent."

"Huh?" I raised an eyebrow at that. "Sure, let him know I'll be there wherever and whenever he wants to meet. If he says it's urgent, I'll make the time."

"Okay," she said, "I'll let him know." 

* * *

Ty to Kejmur for pointing out an inconsistency in the previous chapter.

Again, all reviews are appreciated. I'd love to hear about any guesses you might want to make, any questions you want to ask or even just any mistakes you notice.


	8. Amber Skies - II

The cavern stank.

It stank of snakes and dried blood and screams. It was beneath Konoha, the entrance hidden beneath Danzo Shimura's residence. The residence itself had been abandoned ever since its owner's untimely demise, but the cavernous basements and corridors beneath it, the home and heart of ROOT, still thrummed with life.

There were lots of snakes around, because I'd given it to Orochimaru to play around with, using the facilities and laboratories for himself. He'd also inherited ROOT, but very few of the original members of that secret sect of ANBU who were present during the takeover were still alive.

Not that much of ROOT had survived the Ame Massacre either, though.

My muscles twitched unconsciously at the memory of Hanzo the Salamander.

There were two chakra signatures up ahead. I barely felt one as it entered my sensing range and disappeared almost instantly. _Huh?_

Orochimaru was alone in the center of his lab, leaning over a high steel table. There was a body on the table. I had no wish to go in further, so I stood by the door and watched for a moment. A few snakes on tables and the floor looked up at me, hissing quietly.

Without turning around, Orochimaru spoke, "What can I do for you this time, my dear Hokage?"

"How's your research on the Reincarnation Technique progressing?"

Orochimaru put a pair of bloody scalpels to the side and covered the body with a tarpaulin cloth. He turned to me with a calm, businesslike expression on his face. "It's not."

I raised an eyebrow. "Beg pardon? I gave you all the equipment and time you could need."

He shrugged languidly. "You won't give me live test specimens. I need actual human material and you're not giving me enough. The flaw in the technique is the actual transference of the soul into the new body. I have no idea how the Nidaime managed it, and I can't prove any hypotheses without running a lot more tests. On a lot more people."

"Make do with what you have." I snapped, my eyes narrowing, "I'm not about to give you children or innocent people taken off the streets."

"For the Hokage, you're certainly a squeamish little brat." The snake sannin grumbles.

I had several ideas in mind. I wrestled with them for a while. The war between Iwa and Kumo would definitely produce a lot of displaced people. There would be missing-nin among them. And for someone of Orochimaru's calibre, simply walking to the battlefields and grabbing injured ninja wasn't out of question. And there was one more option, the riskiest and hardest one: capture White Zetsu.

 _Haha, no, fuck, no._

Screw Zetsu. I'd had enough trouble with him and I wasn't going to involve myself with him again at this time. Even though there was a possibility that Tobi was working with Zetsu, I knew that would be unlikely.

Because I'd buried the motherfucker under half-a-kilometer of glass. It would be decades before he could dig himself back out and find enough chakra to regrow any spores into new bodies.

Finally, I picked the lesser of many evils.

"Orochimaru, drop by the Hokage tower in the next few days. There will be an A-Class Retrieval mission in Earth territory waiting for you."

He smirked. "Now, now, I only _just_ returned from your latest mission. Surely you can give me some time to relax, catch up with old acquaintances, make new ones-"

The slightest tingle of burning scale and flesh wafted into the air.

"-of course, I'll be certain to stay out of places I'm not allowed into-"

I blew away the smell towards the vents with a light whisper of wind.

"Alright," I said, "That's all. But I want some progress on it, and soon." I emphasised as I turned around and walked back out.

"I will make no promises," Orochimaru said after me, "But I can tell you you won't be disappointed." I could hear actually his smirk in his voice, but chose to ignore that. It took me a few minutes to covertly exit the caverns, taking a hidden tunnel back towards the Hokage tower. I'd already reached my office, given a Konan a quick kiss as she sat and did some of my paperwork, and taken my seat, when I remembered that I'd completely forgotten to ask him about that second chakra signature I had just sensed. _Eh, I'll do it later._

Was I making a big, big mistake by giving Orochimaru the Edo Tensei? Yes, I was. The fallout could be terrifying down the line. And yet, the technique was too useful to be left rotting away. I had promises to keep.

And feared little, for I was the Son of Ten Suns.

* * *

I didn't actually fall unconscious. My head was spinning, but I groggily forced myself to my feet. Jiraiya slowly strolled towards the three of us. I could barely stand when Jiraiya came and stood in front of me.

He bopped me on the nose and I fell back on my ass again.

"Well, well. I'm actually impressed." Jiraiya chuckles, "It's been a while since a trio of academy graduates bought that much firepower. My ears are still ringing"

"We…" I slurred out, "Try."

Jiraiya made a hand seal. Minato instantly jerked awake. A second hand seal had Okita sitting up. Minato looked around, up and down, bewilderedly, taking in the destruction. Then he looked at Jiraiya and groans. "That was disgusting!" He pointed at Jiraiya. "I won't be able to eat ever again!"

The Toad Sage just chuckled. "It's a pity none of you have the bell-"

"You don't either." I pointed out, one finger raised towards his waist sash from which the bell was, in fact, missing.

There was a moment of dead-drop silence.

"How many little strings do you know that can survive a bunch of fireballs and explosions unscathed?" I asked helpfully, plastering a grin over my face.

Jiraiya stared for a moment. Then he let out a loud guffaw. "So that's what it was all about! I thought for a moment you'd forgotten about the bell and were trying to kill me, badly. Bu-ut, you don't have the bell either, which means you fail." He looked down at us.

Minato sighed. "Sorry, Ren, He was just too fa-" I cut him off with a raised hand, a genuine smile starting to creep across my face. Okita glanced at me expectantly.

 _Huh. Did she figure it out?_

I reached down into my pouch and withdrew a single silver bell identical to the one Jiraiya had shown us. I tossed it to our sensei, who caught it with a raised eyebrow.

Then I took out the second bell and tossed it to Minato. The third bell went to Okita. She caught it with a light smile. "I'm surprised you didn't lose them in the middle of the action." She said simply.

"I had one bell." Jiraiya said flatly.

"You said whoever has a bell by the end passes." I replied flatly. "We all do, hence we all pass."

"Where did you even get those?" He asked.

I thought back for a second, "You see, there's this little shop, off the third road from the market street at the west end of the civilian sector. I just asked Biwako-baasan where could I buy some little bells. Maybe you should've marked your bell or something or had it custom made?"

A few moments of tensed silence passed as I stared down my would-be sensei. He didn't react for a few moments. Then he started roaring with laughter. "You pass! You all pass! Damn, if you aren't the best team I've seen come through in a long time. Sensei was right to put you all in Team 7."

He pulled us all up. "Come on. We're going to have lunch."

Over some fancy sushi, Jiraiya began to talk. "Team 7 is always Konoha's best team. This is the team whose star shines the brightest. The first was Tobirama Senju, the Nidaime Hokage. Sarutobi-sensei, our Hokage, was a part of his team then, along with Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, both of whom are in the Konoha Council now. The Hokage then went on to teach the next generation of Team 7-"

"-you, Orochimaru and Tsunade Senju." Minato finished. Jiraiya nodded. "It's your turn now. I'll push you hard, and I expect you to keep up. You two," He turned to me and Okita, "are younger. You'll be at a disadvantage for a few years against your peers in terms of physical strength. But that shouldn't be an issue for you, should it?"

"No." Okita affirmed.

"We're not that young. And Minato's the one who got his ass kicked back there."

"Hey! Why, you-"

"You took Kushina-nee out instead of me with your bet winnings!"

"I should never have agreed to your plan!"

Jiraiya sat back and watched, sipping his drink. Okita ate quietly, the haunted ghost of a smile on her face.

It was nice and peaceful day, with no inkling of the fact that in less than a year, the Second Shinobi World War would begin and our sensei and his teammates would earn their legendary titles amidst the rains of Ame and blood of Konoha.

* * *

I didn't set out to meet Nagato until I'd received confirmation that Dan Kato was back in the village from his mission as the Leaf Ambassador to Mist. I met Tsunade's white-haired husband at the foot of the Hokage tower, tossed my hat to him with a wink and swept out.

"Catch!" I'd said, "Report later. I'll be back in a few days."

Well, he wanted to be Hokage, he'd get to be Hokage for a few days. With Minato and Jiraiya both out of the village and Konan at my side, there were only a handful of people left in the village I'd trust with the position temporarily. Dan was one of those people. I'd catch up with him later and wheedle any information about the new Yondaime Mizukage when I got back.

"You left quite a backlog of paperwork." Konan observed.

I chuckled, "Anything to get out of doing them."

She smiled. "Tsunade won't be too happy about that. I'll put in an order for replacement furniture now." She gestured and a large cloud of paper drifted off towards Konoha's best carpenter's shop (who also claimed to be a distant Senju relation).

"You're the best."

Meeting up with Tiger and Ram at the gate, the four of us set off west towards Amegakure at full speed. Nagato had agreed to meet us at the border before escorting me into the village. I had my guard squad at half strength simply because even an acting Hokage needed security, and Konan was the strongest kunoichi in the Elemental Nations. She was as strong as any Kage in her own right.

 _Okita would've been stronger, were she alive._ A traitorous little voice at the back of my head said. I ignored it.

Our journey through the Land of Fire was eerily smooth. There were no missing nin, no bandits, no dangerous chakra animals, nothing to break the monotony of continuous travel. We avoided villages, sticking to forested path we could traverse at ease. Konan had a massive net of paper scouts all around us but caught nothing either.

With the war between Cloud and Stone still raging, the border posts along the northern side were understandably at full alert and many more outposts deeper into the Land of Fire had been manned at short notice. They were shocked for the most part to find their Hokage at their doorsteps, but I digress: they were infinitely more comfortable than sleeping outdoors.

Konan left multiple paper scouts at each of them. She'd been meaning to do this for a while now but never got a good chance.

Eventually, we reached the border. I sensed four chakra signatures up ahead. Exiting the forest, I told the ANBU to stand back via handsigns as I went ahead with Konan. It was nearing evening. The clearing was covered in rain, the ground drenched and full of puddles. There was a low mist over the place and Nagato wasn't visible until we came in close.

Hanzo the Salamander's empty face loomed out of the darkness at me. Konan flinched, her hands moving to hurl a stream of explosives at the man who had crippled Yahiko, but she stopped herself in time. This wasn't him, for his eyes were a a shade off white, ringed in concentric circles.

"Nagato," I asked simply, "Why have you activated your paths?"

Nagato hadn't been crippled here as in canon. He wasn't fully capable of utilising the Rinnegan's various powers yet, but had the Outer Paths down pat. Normally they were kept deep within the vaults of Ame, bought out only in times of great need. _Why now?_

Hanzo's body, The Sixth Path of Pain, replied in Nagato's voice.

"The situation has changed. Ame is in danger. I need your help, Renaro, Konan."

Konan stepped forward, "We'll help, what's going on, Nagato?"

"There are over five hundred Iwagakure ninja approaching from the north. They'll reach Rain's borders in an hour or two at most. I've taken Four Paths and the Akatsuki to meet them. Most of my ninja are stationed in the village itself.

The Fifth Path of Life spoke up. He was a young man, a full head shorter than me, with pale hair and dark skin. I didn't know him at all, which meant he was a local criminal. All of Nagato's paths , save the first, were criminals who had been executed in Amegakure. He wasn't unhinged like in canon; he didn't even consider using a healthy ninja as one of the Paths.

"Iwagakure still remembers you, Renaro. They won't dare raise a blade in your presence. Will you come to the northern border?"

I spoke without hesitation, "I'll come."


	9. Amber Skies - III

A grim battlefront stretched across the northern border of the Land of Rain. Dilapidated and broken trenches carved by Earth Jutsu, as a first line of defense against northerly threats in the early days of the Salamander, stretched across miles and miles of rainswept, fog-shrouded landscape. The grass was smothered flat by ceaseless rain. There was an old scent of dilapidation over the whole landscape.

Konan had handed me an Akatsuki robe as we approached the area. I stared at the crimson clouds etched into the black cloth for a moment. It always felt ironic to me, how a group residing in a land of eternal rain beneath grey clouds used the sunrise as their name and theme. Perhaps Nagato wished to bring a new dawn to Ame, free of the shadow of the previous Amekage.

And he had. But it still rained on.

At least the robes were warm and comfortable, The hood went over my head and I could feel the rain splattering on it and rolling off.

Nagato greeted me in his original body. Behind him, the Paths of Hope, Sorrow, Joy and Rage stood arrayed for battle. And behind them in dark robes fifteen members of Akatsuki, the elite of Amegakure, those who had followed Nagato's dream from the beginning, awaited I greeted them with a nod they all returned.

Nagato's alien eyes bore into me as he smiled, holding out his hand. "Thank you, Renaro. You made it just in time."

The Path of Sorrow looked northwards. I followed his gaze northwards. A long line of shadowy figures were cresting up the hill, walking slowly towards Amegakure.

"That's more than five hundred. It's close to a thousand." I said, "And look at their movement. They're not here to invade. They're walking in slowly, though they likely know you're here."

"What do you want to do? I can't use Shinra Tensei." Nagato asked. Even though we were the same age and were peers, he liked to defer to me, for some reason. I raised an eyebrow, suppressing my surprise at that statemet,

Konan narrowed her eyes. "There are children with them."

"Genin?"

"Academy. And younger." Konan pursed her lips.

Nagato looked at the approaching host, then back at his allies. After a moment's indecision, he raised up a hand and held it aloft, palm open, "Akatsuki, stand down!"

I walked forwards, pulling Hoyui'yan out of a sealing scroll as I went and slinging it over my back, making hand seals as I approached.

 _Hoyui's Flame: Flame Transformation, Phoenix Cloak!_

Fire erupted, blossoming into a writhing cloak of flame rippling and twisting across my body. Red and Orange light wiped out the rain, covering the landscape with vapour that I promptly swept away with a wind jutsu. Nagato raised a hand to cover himself from the bright light and torrid heat even from half a hundred meters away. The land all around lit up as bright and clear as any sunny noon.

My Flame Cloak was the direct counter to the Lightning Cloak: it barely enhanced my strength or speed, but it did prevent anyone from even coming near me. I kept it at low intensity for the moment, but at its highest level of intensity I could turn steel into goo in seconds at twenty paces and reduce the ground under me to glass. But that level was really hard to maintain: I could go only a few minutes even with the rice cakes.

But even the weaker version had the effect I wanted. The Flame Cloak was a technique unique to one man in all the elemental nations. The closest imitator would be Roshi with his lava armour. And I had a different, deeper version of it, one I would still keep secret.

There as a clatter. A loud series of clattering, that continued for a minute. The ground was covered in discarded steel, a thousand kunai and swords thrown to the feet of their owners. A tall, burly man came forward cradling a little girl who was fast asleep. She couldn't have been any more than two.

At his approach, I dialed back the flame cloak to only a thin film covering me, then off.

"Kitsuchi, greetings" I recognized him now, "Is that your daughter?"

The man nodded. His face was bedraggled. His fellow Iwa shinobi were in bad condition: cuts and scrapes and torn bandages all around.

"Lord Hokage," he said, "As Tsuchikage, I formally request the Leaf's aid as well as asylum for my people." Dead silence fell.

 _This shit does not happen. What the fuck._

"Why? What happened to Iwagakure?" I asked, though I was certain I knew the answer.

He looked down. "Iwagakure has fallen," he said at length, "My father Ohnoki is dead and my home is a ravaged ruin scoured clean of anything of value."

"That's not possible.," I stared at him, "Ohnoki was among the strongest shinobi alive. His Particle Style… what the hell happened?"

Kitsuchi shook his head, "I don't know. The only one present was Kuro. We found her in the ruins… under Akatsuchi's body." His voice just barely cracked. "She had a letter on her. From father. He said to go to you, and give you this." He reached down and handed me an old, ratty book, covered in decrepit leather.

There was a name on the cover. Faded, but just barely legible.

It was in English.

 _Kazan Uzumaki_

OOOOOOOOO

 _Everything stopped._

* * *

We had just finished our D-Ranks for the day. When we sat down to have lunch, Minato bought up the question. _  
_

"So what's with you and the… twelve suns or whatever?"

Before I could say anything, Okita corrected him, "Ten."

"Eeh," I poked at my noodles, "It's just a little dream of mine. A picture that's been burnt into my head. I can't get it out, so I embrace it. Besides, it does sound cool, doesn't it?"

"Yup!" Minato nodded vigorously. "I should have one of my own, now that I think of it. Hunhhh…" He left half his noodles in the bowl and floated off in his thoughts. I shared a quiet chuckle with Okita. Then I was about to dig back into my food when I found a little toad sitting on it.

 _Croak_. _Croak_.

"Gamako. Not funny. Humans are trying to eat here." Yes, his name was literally 'little toad'.

"Uh-huh" The little toad replied in a voice deep enough to belong to any number of evil masterminds demons and dark lords. "Meanwhile, your sensei is slaving away at the missions desk, lamenting the fact that his students don't even care about him or the C-Rank mission he's about to pick out. Right. I'll go back and tell him that."

We looked at it.

It vanished in a puff of smoke at the same time as Minato did.

When we reached the Hokage Tower, Jiraiya was already waiting for us at the door, three files in hand. "Since you're all such amazing and brilliant kids, I'll let you have your pick of our first C-Rank mission." He said to us and tossed us the files. Okita held them open as I and Minato peeked at them over her shoulders.

The first was a run of the mill mission: courier delivery to a border outpost. It was C-Rank simply because of the distance involved. The second one was a little more interesting: hunting down an apparent vandal who had been terrorising the streets of Konoha. For some reason, the Hokage couldn't spare the ANBU to handle this, the Uchiha Military Police were being useless, and the mission didn't pay enough for a Jounin to pick up. A couple teams of Chunin apparently had no luck yet.

The third one had us hunting a chakra enhanced shark big and toothy enough to give megalodons pause somewhere off the southeast coast, a territory that was often, but not right now, disputed land with Mist.

I held that one up to Jiraiya. "Is this even a C-Rank? It sounds more like a B-Rank."

He shrugged. We called it to vote. I went for the nice-and-simple delivery mission. Minato wanted to do the vandalism investigation. And Okita wanted to kill a shark.

"Minato," I said imploringly, "Do you actually want to stay in Konoha for the mission?"

I turned to Okita, "Can we please take the mission that won't end with us three or four limbs short? Just this one time?"

"Ren, just taking a message is going to be so boring!" Minato replied in turn, "I want to help the village first."

"I agree with Minato, partly," Okita said, "We should try to make some real difference. A killer, that's something we should always fight against as ninja.

Okita met my eyes for a few minutes. I couldn't really discern what was behind those obsidian irises. So I finally acquiesced. "Fine, we'll do the shark thing."

We did the shark thing.

It wasn't really a tough mission, disregarding the fact that we were chased by a battalion of Mist Nin the moment we left the Land of Fire's official borders, nearly got eaten by a man who could've been Kisame Hoshigaki's dad, then watched the same guy get out-Jaw-ed by a killer shark that had clearly been genetically engineered to battle the likes of Godzilla.

I don't know if that mission had fallen under the purview of that so called "C-Rank Curse", but it certainly taught me one thing. I had to be stronger.

Stronger in order to realise my dream. What had I told Jiraiya? _"_ _My dream is to save this world. To lead it to light beneath the glow of ten suns"_ I gave it decent odds that Jiraiya was halfway to thinking I was the child of prophecy. I would fulfill his prophecy, then. I wasn't Naruto, but the blood of Uzumaki ran strong in my veins and thus I was a descendant of Asura. Could I take the place of the main protagonist? Maybe, maybe not, but I would try nonetheless.

(I later learned after a little nosing around that the vandal had been an Aburame using his kikaichu dipped in paint as a brush, remotely. Huh.)

When one day Jiraiya handed us three slips of paper, I was both excited and neutral. Excited, because I was about to learn my affinity. Neutral, because I was ninety-nine percent sure I knew it already.

Minato's one was sliced in half. No divergences there: he was wind. Maybe I could help him actually develop the Rasenshuriken here? Jiraiya nodded and grinned at that, since he was wind too. Okita got Fire, just like every other Uchiha. My paper also caught fire and crumbled away to ash. Suns are made of fire, after all.

"Two fire and two wind is pretty great." Jiraiya said, "You two make fire, then Minato-kun makes it bigger. Nice combo, eh!"

The chunin exams were less than a month away. We'd been together as a team for almost half-a-year now, and agreed unanimously to participate. It wasn't even a multi-village affair, rather restricted to Konoha only: tensions were high. So we intensified our training. Minato got so fast he could literally run in circles around me. Okita's fire jutsus could now melt solid rock, and she was brutally fast and efficient with the sword she'd picked up. I could use a variety of jutsu, of fire, wind and earth elements, alongside being able to draw, aim, infuse and shoot with my bow in the space of a heartbeat. Without the arrows blowing up in midair with whatever jutsu they carried.

From Jiraiya, I learnt that archery wasn't really so rare. Uzushio Bowmen were famed for their bows and arrows that had seals etched into them. Many ninja in the minor villages used bows. Konoha, it turned out, had no tradition of using bows whatsoever.

Which was a damn shame, because the wood of _Mokuton_ was _special_ : it could conduct chakra, and with the proper shaping, actually hold it in. It was an extension of this property that made Wood Release so useful at binding Tailed-Beasts. One day, I would need to write some dissertation on that. I had theories of just what made Wood Release so special, from an out-of-universe point of view.

Since both my bow and all my arrows had been carved from local trees, well, I'd just discovered something no other Konoha shinobi had. I wasn't blowing my own trumpet here too much, though. Scarcely a generation had passed since Hashirama Senju's death, so understandably people hadn't begun to fully experiment with the wood.

But, on the eve of the First Test of the Chunin Exams, sobering news reached Konoha. Sand forces under the Sandaime Kazekage, the man they called the Iron Sand, had begun to march upon Amegakure.

The Second Shinobi World War had begun. 

* * *

FFnet's formatting, _especially_ around horizontal lines, makes me irritated. Pretty goddamn much so.


	10. Interlude - Old Eyes

Interludes: Old Eyes

It was not, Jiraiya of the Sannin mused, the first time either of his two companions had lost someone close.

It took him less than a second to go from musing about their losses to the one he and Minato shared: Okita.

Jiraiya would remember that day eight years ago with crystal clarity. He could remember the mist-nin laughing. He could remember the cold, crystalline eyes of the Yuki heiress as she danced around him and enmeshed him within a maze of mirrors, even as four of the Swordsmen of the Mist battled him in close combat.

His students, facing the Hozuki heir all alone, Minato's face a defiant snarl, Renaro's a calm facade and Okita's a resolute visage.

A visage that had lasted only as long as the fight itself, until titanic blades of water tore into her body and ripped the life out of her with six spurts of blood in front of two horrified young men. She had only been fourteen.

"This thing is really strong," Minato said waving around his glass of sake, jerking Jiraiya out of his reverie, "Kushina would have my hide if she kn-"

Jiraiya sighed internally, as Minato went quiet again. The blond man lowered his glass onto the table, stared at it listlessly for a few moments, then drank it back up in one big swig. Sakumo was dozing off. An hour passed. Minato was very tipsy. Jiraiya himself only avoided getting drunk by virtue of his long experience in such matters.

There was a pretty serving girl. Jiraiya winked at her out of habit and she blushed and turned away. Somewhat typical, as reactions went.

Another hour passed by. Jiraiya picked Sakumo up on one shoulder and began to walk back up to the rooms he had rented out in the little village they were passing through. It was somewhere along the Land of Fire's northwest border. Minato was leaning on him.

"S-sen-sensei," Minato's voice was jumbled up, "L-look a-a-at me. Fas-fastest man al-live, reduced to stum-" He cut off as he tripped on a rock. His teacher braced him just in time.

"-stumbling around. Like-ke this."

"Minato," Jiraiya said, "It's fine. You're only a little drunk."

Suddenly his eyes snapped upwards. There was someone approaching, who had an incredibly powerful chakra signature. Minato looked up groggily too.

When Jiraiya saw the man, he stilled.

"Minato, get back. Try to run chakra through your body, purge the alcohol. Hold Sakumo." He said, his voice now commanding.

A tall man with tanned skin and forest-green eyes glanced back at them. His sweaty dark hair hung to his shoulders and the loose shirt he wore left long trails of stitches visible all over the length of his body. Jiraiya hadn't ever met the man before, but he was a common fixture in bingo books all around the world. Kakuzu, a missing nin from Takigakure.

A man who had gone up against Hashirama Senju and survived.

Kakuzu's posture was relaxed, but Jiraiya could notice his arms and legs tensed just so. He began to evaluate his options:

The Earth Grudge Fear forbidden technique. Most of Kakuzu's innards would be composed of thick cords, giving him superior mid range capabilities and inhuman durability.

Elemental techniques. Reportedly, high level techniques, of Fire, Wind and Earth.

Civilians all around. His student and his friend, both incapable of combat. They would need to be protected from the collateral damage.

His mind made up, Jiraiya moved to cut his thumb and thrust it to the ground. But before he could activate the summoning, the missing nin spoke up.

"Not here to fight you, Sannin." Kakuzu's voice was hard and raspy. Jiraiya narrowed his eyes. "Why should I believe you?" Jiraiya said, "You're a missing nin with a kill on sight order."

"I wasn't paid to fight you. Paid pretty damn well at that." The missing nin replied, "Believe it or not, this is just a routine delivery mission." He pulled out a scroll. "You want this or not?"

The toad sage was torn. On one hand there as an exceedingly dangerous enemy shinobi in front of him, and on the other hand if this could just reach a peaceful settlement everything would be so much better. Finally, he asked, "Hardly sounds like a job for a missing nin like you. Who gave you the scroll?"

Kakuzu shrugged. Jiraiya's eyes followed the seams on his body, as they bulged with the motion. "Creepy guy. Mask with a spiral. Felt pretty powerful, though I never met him before."

The wind stilled. Jiraiya had frozen with shock mentally. The same man who attacked Konoha, killed Kushina and Kakashi?

He didn't let the shock show on his face, though. Years of life as a shinobi had taught him better than that. Outwardly, he simply said, "Alright. Place the scroll on the ground, slowly, and leave. I won't say this again."

"Yeah, sure." Kakuzu said and simply tossed the scroll down on the ground. "Maybe we'll meet again, Sannin."

Jiraiya didn't take a step towards the scroll until Kakuzu was fully and well out of his sensing range. He checked on Minato and Sakumo, who were both groggy but awake and waiting for him, and after assuring them all was well he went and checked the scroll for traps. Finding none, he gently picked it up.

He read the seals on the scroll at a quick glance. Something inside him twisted.

It was a corpse scroll.

* * *

There were few men in the elemental nations Ohnoki deemed worth respecting.

It was a sobering thing to reflect upon, in the last moments of his life.

Muu had been the first person he'd looked up to. To most the man had been scarcely more than a phantom, but to him he had been a teacher and brother alike. It had been first glimmers of white from within Mu's hands that led to the birth of the most powerful of the nations upon the continent.

A nation that had weathered decades and decades of bloody wars only to fall within seven days of a concerted attack. An attack that should by all means have been impossible. Earth was a wide country.

And now his village was on its knees. His chakra was exhausted. His shinobi were dead, dying, or fleeing. It didn't matter anymore: not his strength, not how many armies he could wipe out with a single jutsu. A village hadn't fallen since the Founding. Iwa would be the first. That thought rankled at him, tore at his aged heart, and there was nothing he could do about it.

The wind whispered. His last words were written and the message he wanted delivered to the Yondaime Hokage, the man known as the FIrebird he had once faced on the battlefield was ready.. The rape of Iwa was dying down: all that was left was a slaughter in the streets. Kitsuchi was away, but Aka and Kuro…

A shadow moved behind the Tsuchikage. His eyes narrowed instantly.

"Hello, Ohnoki." The voice was soft.

The old man turned slowly, aware of his nearly shattered spine barely held together by some medical technique and also his utter lack of chakra.

"You," He said, "You bought the Cloud forces here." His fists clenched, brittle bones creaking. "Who are you?"

The figure behind the mask might've smiled faintly. Ohnoki couldn't tell. The featureless face with the black spiral obscured the face perfectly, leaving only two eyeslits open. The eyes were in shadow, but he could tell they were both pale with dark flecks in them. A doujutsu?

"The Hokage curses my name as Tobi. You might as well." The masked man said.

Tobi. Ohnoki now had a name to put to the visage that had destroyed everything he had built up over his life.

"I always liked you. You did good by your village and its people. You managed to cripple the Raikage, for life, and his Two-Tails with that last Dust Release. That made my job easier."

"And what job is that?" Ohnoki snarled, even as he inwardly began to gather chakra. Maybe, maybe, he had just enough for one last blast-

Tobi turned aside to look at the flames of the village rising up into the sunset. In the distance, past the field, The Yonbi was roaring its last even as the Hachibi began to wrap its multiple gigantic libs across it, as if to tear apart its younger brother.

"To save the world, and make something right. Its part… someone else's dream and part my goal. Iwa's fall, the Tailed-Beasts, they're just little steps. Little steps to climb up to reach the sun." Tobi's voice chilled and died as he finished.

Ohnoki focused. Chakra began to flow down his arms. "What's your end goal, then? You're about to destabilise the system we've established for so long. The Elemental Nations will fall into chaos!

"Are you expecting me to monologue?" Tobi said. Ohnoki could feel the raised eyebrows.

His technique was ready. Without warning, Ohnoki's fingers moved in a lightning-fast pattern, a cube of white light just sparking to life. He spread his hands, ready to expand the field to annihilate Tobi. The action took less than a fraction of a second.

 _Particle Style: Boundary Disma-_

A force blasted into him: a wave of power that picked him up bodily, tore the nascent jutsu from his hands and smashed him into the wall. He groaned out in pain, his body arching over, half of his remaining bones cracking and shattering in seconds. The pain was almost too much to bear, but he was a shinobi. He gritted his teeth and stared up defiantly.

"If it's of any consolation, your particle style won't go extinct. You yourself made sure of it, after all." Tobi spoke. Ohnoki's eyes widened. The masked man held something in his hands: a very familiar cube, spinning and glowing with a light so bright it hurt him to look at it.

"H-How-" the Tsuchikage whispered, choking the word out.

"Sorry, I can't tell you." Tobi replied simply.

The light expanded.


	11. Scarlet Star - I

I read the name on the cover once again. _Kazan Uzumaki_.

The rain thudded on ceaselessly against the walls of the tower. At the other end of the chamber, I could hear low voices as Nagato and Kitsuchi spoke of the future of nations. Konan sat in their discussion too, representing Konoha. She kept sending worried glances in my direction every few minutes.

I didn't move from the bench I sat upon. My fingers slowly traced the K. I knew that name. That was my father's name.

Not my father from Earth. My father, the man who had sired me. The man who had loved and married my mother. Not my mother from Earth either. My mother, the woman who gave birth to Renaro Uzumaki. Two bodies, perhaps not even that, that lay at the bottom of the ocean.

He had been a wanderer and a recluse, and had lived to be far older than most ninja had any right to be, according to what I had been told. I had no memories of him, of course, nor of my mother. But I'd been told about them. In the end, though, he wasn't really family. My family was Minato and Kushina and Naruto and Konan and Jiraiya.

 _Why was this in Iwagakure, father? And why do you have these markings on it?_

The markings. Nine circles with lines radiating from them. I knew what it symbolized: Nine Suns.

Who did that make me? A second generation insert or something? Someone who merely had been given memories of Earth? Or else? I had always thought the suns were linked to that. What if they weren't, and instead it was merely an obscure family matter, a bloodline limit or genetic memory or something.

I flipped it open yet again, my eyes straining to read the ravaged and ruined paper to no avail. The parchment was too old, the ink too faded, to make out anything at all. Other pages had been torn or wrinkled beyond reading.

 _So many questions_ … and I had no wish to go back to the Nightlands to ask the Rabbits now. So I fished out a rice cake from a secured pouch inside my clothes and took a bite. It felt as good and simple as always: just the right about of softness, just the right about of sweetness, just the right size. As I swallowed, I could feel my throat burning pleasurably: raw chakra from a food made for immortals rolling down. I finished the whole piece, hesitated for a moment, then took another. They calmed me down, helped me think.

I stood up, pocketing the journal and strode past into where Nagato and Kitsuchi were discussing details. A possible retaking of Iwagakure, apparently. The village was devastated, but enough of its infrastructure was intact that it rebuilding it would be far better and easier than resettling, and moreover it would be a symbol.

Only, of course, the remnants of Iwa weren't strong enough, and they needed a place to leave their civilians and children.

"They're welcome in Leaf." I said as I walked by.

Konan and Nagato stared. "Wait, you can't just let them-" Konan began. I shook my head. "Yes, yes, I know. We'll only allow civilians and children under the age of ten, after each individual gets thoroughly vetted. Don't worry, we'll be as gentle as we can. I'm not a sadist."

Kitsuchi narrowed his eyes just slightly, "That is… very generous. What would you want in return?"

"Iwa." I said, "There are questions I need answered, and I will scour what remains of the village to find it. We can talk later about this. For now-"

I turned to Nagato, "You called me for something before all this happened. What was it?"

He looked at Kitsuchi. "Could you excuse us, please?" The Tsuchikage grunted and acquiesced, leaving the room with an "I'll check with my Jounin."

Nagato turned away from us, looking out the window. "Do you remember the final days of the war with Hanzo? When we had missing-nin by the dozens flocking in and out of Ame, hired either by us or the loyalists?

Konan nodded. "Yes. It was a tough time."

"All the missing nin either reported to me, Konan or Yahiko. We'd mostly just get a feel for them, tell them the rules of how we operated, then let them engage Hanzo's hired people in battle. It wasn't the best option, but it was the only one we could take."

I remembered too. I hadn't been in the fighting in Ame until at the final confrontation, but Leaf had been involved nonetheless.

"One of the missing nin I met," Nagato continued, "Wore a white spiral mask. He was nothing unremarkable at that time, except exceptionally powerful chakra. When I heard of Tobi and his description, they matched up."

My mind was whirring. Tobi and Zetsu _had_ met Nagato, Yahiko and Konan to form the Akatsuki before Yahiko's death, in canon. Of course, here, Zetsu had already been buried by then. Still, I learnt something new. I learnt Tobi had been operating for at least three years, if not more.

"What else can you remember about him?" I asked, urgency in my tone.

Nagato shook his head, "Not much. He wasn't in the country for any longer than a few days before collecting his pay and leaving."

"But," His alien eyes swivel a bit to look at mine, "Even though it was a long time ago, I remember his chakra felt strange. A little like… yours, but still different."

* * *

"I'm all out of chakra." I muttered, breathing heavily as I leaned against a tree. The ground was cold, wet and muddy. I shivered. It was raining heavily.

"Can you make fire?" Minato wheezed out. Okita nodded with wide eyes, the driest pieces of kindling she could find in her hands. A pair of hand seals later they burned merrily. I breathed in a sigh of relief. We quickly shoved the fire under a little hollow in a tree.

I cautiously peered out, scanning the trees. There was a squad of Earth nin around. "Where the hell is sensei?" I asked quietly.

There was a blur of gray. Okita yelped and stuck outwards. Scarlet splashed. Metal came whirring in at my face and I rolled to the left, letting Minato deflect the thrown kunai with his own with a ringing clang.

 _Three-man cell._ The third attacker showed himself just as I thought that, hands flashing in a display of ninjutsu. He was too close for his comfort, so with a burst of speed I rushed in and drove a wedge into his hands, breaking apart whatever seals he was making. A second hit landed on him, my uppercut hitting him square in the jaw. His head whipped back and his legs whipped up to catch me in the chest and knock me back as he somersaulted backwards.

He landed on a spike of steel. He only had a momentary surprised look on his face, before crumpling to the ground. Okita removed her bloody sword and wiped the edge on his body, then stood up slowly.

For those who weren't physical gods walking the earth, that's how fights went. Wet with mud and blood, ending in seconds.

"There are too many enemy shinobi around. We need to move." Minato said. We looted the bodies of the attackers, picking up spare kunai, a set of senbon and a few explosive tags. Just generic equipment held by generic mooks.

Generic mooks… that's all they were. Not men and women who might've had brothers and sisters and parents and children and lovers. Not people with their own unique ideals, dreams, passions. Merely… extra bodies thrown into the grinder of war.

One day, I would change it. One day, I would shine over this world brighter than any other sun.

That night, Minato took the first watch, and Okita snugged up to me as she did every night. We didn't have sleeping bags or camping gear. Our camp was a little crevice in rock that was big enough for two of us, while the third kept watch.

I whispered stories. Tales from the other world I knew. Of gods of dark and light and great ships sailing a black void. Of men, women and children capable of doing wondrous things with a word and a wave. Of kingdoms that tolled in war or peace. Of a farmboy travelling the stars to deliver a message. Of a boy summoning a hero of the distant past to save his life. Of a schoolgirl watching her friends battle for the sake of their souls. Of a girl wanting to be a hero in a world nearly beyond saving.

A different tale for each night. It was alright, I knew hundreds.

Jiraiya found us two days after the last fight. He took one look at us and said, "Fuck solo missions. I'm not leaving you guys alone again."

I grinned weakly. I _was_ weak. "We're okay, sensei-" This hadn't been our first mission nor any of our first kills, just the first one without Jiraiya-sensei.

"Where did you go, sensei?" Okita asked.

Jiraiya looked at her, then replied, "Amegakure. Just scouting the area. There's a plan, one final strike to end the war. I can't say any more than that right now."

My eyes widened. Amegakure. Final stroke of the war.

Scores of Konoha shinobi, include Dan Kato, would die. Jiraiya-sensei, Tsunade-nee and Orochimaru would earn their names of the Sannin.

I- I needed to do _something_.

Jiraiya smiled, "Don't worry about it, kids. It's still a few days off. And you guys are, officially, out of this war now. Let's go home. We'll take a shortcut."

Said shortcut was a reverse summon to Mount Myoboku. The toads kinda stayed out of our way, though. I barely saw them, except for a few flashes of the younger ones, but I saw the slight frown on Jiraiya's face. That night, we slept in a house for the first time in what felt like forever, and the beds felt almost like the ones I had back home in Konoha.

Minato's fell asleep in seconds. Okita's breaths became slow and steady after a while. But I couldn't sleep. After a while, I just got off the bed and walked out to the next room, where Jiraiya was sitting and writing by moonlight. Part of the wall was just open to the outside.

"Can't sleep, sensei." I said.

He looked up, putting down the paper, "What's up?"

I looked out and around Mount Myoboku. It felt calm and quiet at this time of the night, and beautiful too. "I thought I'd see more of the toads."

Sensei grunted. "They're being testy for some reason. I'll ask the elders what's wrong after I've dropped you off."

"Oh." I said. Was the issue with us? The toads were perfectly fine with Minato. "Are all the summon realms like this?"

"Hmm." Jiraiya gave a small shrug. "From what Oro-teme and Tsunade tell me, yeah. Though the snakes live in some dark, dank cave, so not quite like this. But I like this place best, even more so than the hustle and bustle of Konoha at times. It's peaceful yet lively here. Heh, maybe I'll end up like old Fukusaku one day."

After a few seconds, I finally asked, "Sensei, I'm the long-range ninjutsu specialist in the team. But I'm a little limited in the things I can do, and bigger stuff takes just too much out of me."

Jiraiya-sensei looked at me, "Well, you could ditch the bow-"

"No." I said flatly, "I'm specialised in it and I'd lose a lot of range. I have another idea."

"Go on…"

I looked up at him, "Teach me the summoning jutsu."

* * *

It took a lot of paperwork to run a hidden village.

It took even more paperwork to bury a dead village.

Fortunately, Yahiko was something of a wizard with paperwork. I occasionally looked up from my files, glancing at him and Konan as they tossed up sheaf after sheaf of paperwork. Yahiko filled the stuff in, Konan moved them around. I wondered what would it take to bribe Nagato to let Yahiko take a 'vacation' in Konoha.

Not that I actually wanted to abduct a wheelchair-bound guy so I could force him to do paperwork. Not at all.

The files in my hands were old reports and war records. Somewhere among them _had_ to be details about Tobi and whatever missions he carried out. Nestled in my pockets was my father's journal. Once I got back home to the Leaf, I could have it forensically examined for any more details.

Hours and hours went by. There were a lot of old reports. Eventually, I just groaned and tossed them onto a desk, walking out for a breath of fresh air. "I hope Dan's buried in paperwork too." I muttered under my breath.

The day was cold. The sun was low and dark in the sky. I 'tch'ed in annoyance, looking up at it. This would be a foul day, I could already tell. I wouldn't be leaving Ame before I'd found something about Tobi, and until the refugees of Iwa were ready to move. Briefly, I thought of simply discarding them. I thought of all the valuable manpower it would take up, all the resources that could be better spent in other ways. The Hokage's job was to protect the Hidden Leaf and preserve the Will of Fire. But my will, the Will of the Sun, overrode that.

"Oh, Ren." Okita said, "You can't help but save them."

"Yeah," I said, "I know. I'm practically Shirou Emiya. Just more pragmatic. Except I _can't fucking protect those close to me._ " I snarled out the last part.

There was a familiar sensation. A voice, too distorted to recognize, spoke, "You can't protect them from me." He said simply.

Before I even turned around I was hurling fireballs from my mouth. Each sizzled in the air and passed harmlessly through Tobi. He had Kamui. He was intangible. My fireballs soared through him and flew on over the lake, out of sight.

I stopped firing. I knew it was futile, unless I used any of my more destructive, more conceptual techniques. And I wasn't quite willing to do that in the middle of a crowded city. "What do you want?" I seethed.

"The same thing you do." Tobi replied, "To save this world."

I had to resist the urge of laugh. "You think… what you;re doing will save the world?"

"It will save this world." Tobi repeated. "Stone was only the first step. I believe Sand will be next?"

"Stone-" I gaped, "Stone was only the first step? Thousands dead in a battle between rampaging jinchuuriki, an entire village reduced to rubble. That's your path to peace?"

Tobi nodded. "One day, you'll understand."

Space distorted. I poured chakra into my arms and legs simultaneously, and rocketed towards him, my arms ablaze with the light of the flame cloak. A burning comet lit up the street as I seared a path towards him fifty meters across, blackening the ground for ten feet to either side.

But Tobi was gone.

* * *

Have a double update. Only got back to work on this a few weeks ago, but there's a few more chapters written ahead of this, so maybe will keep a regular schedule on this. This point is about 1/3 the way through.


	12. Scarlet Star - II

I sat there on the rain-drenched street for a long time, just staring at my hands.

Tobi's goals seemed unfathomable to me. He wanted to save this world, but how? Oh, no, he wasn't insane. He had an overarching motive. I was genre savvy enough to understand that. A man as calm and collected as him would know what to do to achieve his goal.

 _What was his goal?_ To save the world. _How?_ I knew many stories and many methods used. Did he plan to use the same Eye of the Moon plan as in canon? That would explain why he targeted Kushina and took the Kyuubi. Did he plan to become a focal point of hatred for all the people of the world, like Angra Mainyu and Lelouch vi Britannia and even Sasuke Uchiha? That would explain the destruction of Stone. Did he plan to eradicate Chakra entirely? Or something else?

So I had to put myself in his shoes. Figure out his motives, his possible maths of action, and I could fight him on even ground. Yes, he was intangible to almost every attack, with his Kamui, but I knew his weakness. Konan's Messenger of God jutsu in the anime had forced him to sacrifice one eye to activate Izanagi.

I could do better. I just had to meet him once again, face to face. Kushina and Kakashi's faces floated before me. I clenched my fists and stood up.

Sand will be next, he had said. It was an obvious bait, maybe a trap. And yet it was an opportunity to see Tobi's truthfulness, and through that get a glimpse of what the man was planning-

"Ren!" Konan swooped down beside me. "I sensed-"

I raised a hand at her to show her I was alright. "Tobi was here." I said simply.

Her eyes widened. Instantly she motioned to the left and right, for her paper birds to fly and seek him out. I waved a hand at her to stop her. "It's useless, he's gone. Teleported."

"Teleported." She muttered, "The same technique Obito used?"

I nodded grimly, "Yes. He also becomes intangible, as I suspected. But I know his intangibility is limited: keep up continuous attacks on him with absolutely no breaks and eventually, he will have to let go of it and become vulnerable."

Konan looked thoughtful, "Do you know how long?"

"Five to ten minutes at the least. I hope." I grinned at her, "How long do you think you need to make six hundred billion of your paper tags?"

She blinked. Then slowly turned to look over. I followed her gaze. The lake.

"Oh, my god, don't tell me you _did_." She smiled as she nodded. I grabbed her and gave her a kiss, right on the lips.

"I don't quite have, _that_ many, yet. The paper hasn't replicated enough yet. Maybe, a few billion at most by now?"

"You turned the bed of the lake to a _farm_. The tags turn industrial waste into more tags." I said, awestruck, "You created freaking von neumann explosive tags like the Second Hokage!

"And we're going to put them to good use." I finished. 

* * *

I bit down on my thumb. Blood trickled out.

My hands moved through the seals, slowly and precisely. Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram. Then I planted the hand into the ground. Black lines spread out. I had one last split second to wonder what animal I might get, before my chakra exited.

A gasp escaped me. _That technique took so much chakra._ I stumbled forwards in the smoke, my vision blurring. _Freaking Chakra exhaustion from one jutsu?_

Then I hit the ground. It wasn't hard.

I woke up on soft grass. Someone was propping me up from the back. Someone with soft, squishy hands. Another was trying to put something in my mouth. I unconsciously opened it and took a bite. It was rice. Sweet, too. Tasted good.

I took another bite. A few more bites. I swallowed.

My body felt like it was electrocuted. Chakra surged through my pathways and veins. It was like I'd been injected with raw chakra. My eyes widened and I gasped for breath, shivering. The first thing my eyes saw then was the sky.

Pitch Black. A starless void, with two pinpricks of light in the distance. One was green and blue: mother earth, seen from so far away. And the other was the pale, distant light of a cold, dead sun that struggled even to shine.

That second light sent my body shaking and shivering, despite the fast fading warmth of whatever I'd been given.

Something warm and fluffy rolled over my body. I stopped. _What_. Many warm and fluffy things. Beady red eye looked up at me from amidst a sea of white and gray.

"You-" I stuttered, "You're rabbits. Are you killer rabbits?"

A deep, dry chuckle came from amidst the swarm of fluffiness. One rabbit, as tall as I was, spoke. His fur was darker than the rest, closer to a shade of metal than snow.

"We have long awaited you, Son of Suns. Come."

He led me through the lunarscape. It was a surreal walk, under that sky, walking through a literal city of rabbits living in beautifully made burrows. "You may call me Usaragi," he said as we walked.

I asked "Are we on the moon?"

Usaragi hesitated for the smallest of seconds. A lot of shinobi wouldn't have caught it. "I am told you have the mindset to understand. This place is a planar fragment broken off long, long before even the Otsutsuki set foot beyond their world. This place is connected to your world, yes. But it also exists independently. That's why we have no stars and yet our one everdistant sun. Space-Time Ninjutsu is the only way to travel here."

"Wait, what?" I stopped, "You know about the Otsutsuki?"

Usaragi's mouth tightened, or however the equivalent motion went with his rabbit-mouth. "We do not speak of them. Elder Rabbit will explain all. Come."

We reached a clearing, right at the edge of the city. Usaragi gave me a little push, "Go on, child," into the middle of the clearing. And at the other end was a old, old throne carved out of silvery rock. One rabbit sat upon it.

His fur drooped with age, yet gleamed like freshly polished metal, clean and pristine. To his side lay an old gnarled staff. His eyes were huge, staring at me unblinking. His ears were motionless.

I stared back at him. Ten seconds passed. Twenty. FInally, Elder Rabbit blinked, his ears twitched, then he spoke. "Leave us!" he said to Usaragi. "Would you like some cake?" he said to me. He held it up to me.

I took it from his hands with slightly narrowed eyes. "What's this?" I asked, as I took a bite.

The same jolting electric sensation went down my throat as I swallowed it. My chakra pathways were ablaze. "Holy shit," I muttered and asked again, "What _is_ this?"

Elder Rabbit chuckled, "The food we served to our Princess. The rice is harvested from there." He beckoned to an open field behind the throne that stretched to the horizon. The field was full of rice plants, from the foot of…

"My god…" I muttered. Indeed.

It was a God Tree.

* * *

I wrapped the cloak around me tighter, squeezing my eyes shut against the stinging sand. Beside me, Konan's skin had taken on an eerie, double-layered appearance as she peeled off paper to cover herself from the blistering winds.

"This is not natural," I cried out.

Konan shouted back, "Do you think it's the One-Tails?"

"Maybe. I fucking hope not!"

We were a few hours outside Sunagakure, having sneaked inside after I shot down the idea of anything official. I had no intention of letting Tobi have advance warning and knowledge of our whereabouts, even if he did expect me to be present at Sand. The sky had been clear one moment, and the next the sandstorm had erupted.

"Wait! I see it!" Konan held up a hand, pointing to a dark shadow to our right. I advanced towards it. Walls. I followed it to the left, keeping the wall to my right. A gate and a lifeless body. The sand kunoichi looked like she had been choked to death.

I knelt down to examine the body. "Sand in the mouth." Konan grimly nodded, no doubt thinking of a way to avoid a similar fate. Well, it'd be easy for her, considering she could disassemble her entire body at a moment's notice. My heart quickened. I bit into a rice cake, slowly moving along the deserted streets of the village. Visibility was still nil, anything beyond a few meters just a hazy wall of gold.

Gold.

I yelped and dodged backwards. The landscape in front of me seemed to shift, shimmering and rippling. The wall rose up into the sky, out of visibility. From a great distance there seemed to be a crash, like waves breaking on rocks. Or sand breaking on gold dust.

"It's the Kazekage!" I hissed. "Be careful of the gold."

Suddenly, the sand cleared. The eye of the storm. Tobi stood at the top of a pillar, a crying, squirming bundle in one arm. Across a courtyard was Rasa of the Gold Dust, the Fourth Kazekage, bleeding from his eyes and hands.

"Welcome, Hokage." Tobi said without turning to look at you. Rasa looked up instead, staring in surprise at you.

"What-" Rasa spoke. That's as far as he got, before he started screaming. Screaming louder than anything else. The gold dust swirled around him, buffeting him, then enclosing him. The onyx flames spread into the dust, licking the grains with thousands of little tongues. But Rasa continued to scream, and then with a whimper faded. The dust dropped down to the ground, lifeless.

It took less than a second for Amaterasu to burn him to death. Tobi had been toying with him, waiting for my arrival.

Konan moved her paper instantly, scattering it across the battlefield, creating barriers between her and Tobi. I had briefed her on how Amaterasu worked by line of sight.

"You did the same thing again." I whispered,

Tobi turned around to face us. "As I said I would."

Gaara squirmed in Tobi's hands. My eyes widened in shock. The infant's limbs had turned to sand. The child's torso was pale and grainy. Only the face, with a tuft of red hair and that birthmark, was intact. _Love_.

And he cried.

"What- What're you doing to him?" I shouted.

"Nothing." Tobi replied, "Sealing a Tailed Beast into an infant can have consequences. All it takes are whispers, and…"

"Gaara." I said, "Give him to me!" It wasn't too late for Gaara, Konan could still put the basic seals on him to restrain Shukaku temporarily. It wasn't too late.

Shaking his head, Tobi replied, "I'm sorry, it's too late for him." He whispered.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl. I saw every detail of the infant's face, every grain of sand on Gaara's face. I saw Tobi's unmoving mask, the grains of sand in the air, the paper Konan had scattered around. I saw Gaara disintegrate entirely into sand and blow away into the wind.

I howled.

The sand was rising up like it was a living, breathing thing. It was. The sand rose dozens of meters into the sky, arranging tightly. Darker slashes began to form. A tail, a body, a head. Shukaku was free.

"Konan," I muttered, locking everything else away, "Take the One-Tail."

Then I focused solely on the masked man before me.

"I'll kill you."

"I know, gladly."

My hands moved in a flash, hurling half a dozen kunat at him. He sidestepped two, letting the rest pass through him. The explosive tags on them detonated just as they entered Tobi, though he didn't even flinch. I put my hands together. _Fire Style: Orb of Incineration!_ The inferno began at Tobi's center and expanded outwards in a sphere to engulf him entirely. Tobi moved like a bolt of lightning and the sphere moved with him, completely engulfing him in scorching flames.

"I will chain you at the heart of a sun if I must." The fire was too bright and hot to see anything through it, but I could tell Tobi was inside it, alive and unharmed. All I had to do was keep the orb up for five minute. Then another five minutes, maybe.

Above us the sky screamed. Explosions lit up the body of the One Tails by the scores and streaks of white and dark careened by like soaring doves. The explosions were as big as a house, kilotons of explosives' worth of firepower being lobbed around.

Tobi had stopped moving, realising the futility of it. He was standing still, as if thinking about what to do. It had been a minute and half. Three and a half or so to go, before he lost an eye.

I talked on. "If… this were a story, you'd a fucking terrible villain," I said, my fingers still locked in the handseal for the jutsu, "You show up out of nowhere, with no explanations as to your goal except some vague words, and just start killing left and right. Until you're put down."

Tobi might've cocked an eyebrow. "You still compartmentalize amazingly. And if you think this is a story, you should also think-"

There was a shift. The orb began to twist and churn, as if something was spinning inside it and sucking part of the flames into a whirlpool from within. Then like a ball, one end of it exploded with a 'pop'. The fire was being swept away and extinguished. Tobi's hand was visible, holding…

"-isn't this a little early to end?"

"You are fucking kidding me." I muttered, and released the orb. It wouldn't hold up to that. Hoyui'yan was in my hands with an arrow nocked, in an instant. I loosed a split second after Tobi hurled his attack.

 _Rasenkiriyin._

The swirling torrent of water, spinning within an orb of chakra the size of my head, flew through the air. Slower and dimmer than a Rasenshuriken, but heavier and sharper and nearly the equal of Naruto's technique. The ball tore through the first arrow with ease, shredding it to pieces and extinguishing a few flickers of flame. I quickly shot a second arrow, this one laden with earth chakra. Earth to counter Water.

The Rasenkiriyin cut through that with ease as well. I saw a flash of azure, then it detonated with the force of a tsunami of scarlet steel.

* * *

Some people have expressed a dislike for the past scenes. Well, there's only two more of those left, after this one. One more next chapter, and one later. Anyways, do leave a review!


	13. Scarlet Star - III

I was alive. My arms were bleeding, the skin and blood vessels under it ripped apart simply by the sheer force of the technique from a distance. The wall of paper Konan had enacted at the last moment was so much shredded leaves in the wind. But it had saved my ass.

No time to say thanks.

Konan landed beside me, "What the hell was that technique? It ripped through almost of all my paper!"

"You remember the wind-infused Rasengan I helped Minato with?"

She nodded. "That, but with water." I panted, as she gasped lightly, "But, how-"

"Fuck if I know…"

Tobi made no move to attack me further. Before I could ponder on why he waited, Shukaku instead took a swing, a pillar of sand a dozen meters wide flying down at me. I dodged back just in time. Konan took flight again , but her wings were smaller, lighter. The sandstorm was buffeting her too heavily now.

I stared the cloaked figure down, bow ready, grabbing another rice cake and wolfing it down. Tobi watched me.

"You should dial back on those. I can't have you exploding just yet." He said.

My eyes widened. My knuckles went white. "You know what they are?" I whispered, the words barely loud to carry over to him in the storm. But he seemed to hear them nonetheless.

"I know a lot of things you wouldn't expect me to know. I also know it doesn't matter how many of them you take in now. _This is not the day you win._ "

I grit my teeth. "Try me, you bastard! _Nine Suns: Nine Lives of Naught!_ "

The world went white for a single, pure, eternal instant; and hell rained.

Konan screamed and threw herself back out of the sky, narrowly avoiding the first pillar of fire. I went down on my knees, but with squinted eyes I watched Tobi dodge to the side desperately. He didn't make it, the light engulfing his entire body, white-hot. The sand around the edge of the beam blackened instantly and began to shift, sinking inward as if into a sinkhole.

The first pillar began to flicker. Tobi's dark figure appeared as a hazy shimmer of black amidst the white fire, half buried in glass.

The second pillar came down. The light was blinding, the heat splitting and cracking apart my skin from even this distance.

A third pillar came down. The sound, thumping and cracking and hissing, was tremendous. I howled in pain, clutching Konan tighter, putting my body between her and Nine Suns.

The fourth pillar obliterated the clouds. The world was a flashbang of white and blindness. I felt with my chakra only. Tobi still lay directly under the pillars, each homing onto him. Shukaku was a vanishingly small presence in the distance, growing fainter. All I could think of was, _damn, he ran. Could be a problem later._

If there was a later.

Five.

The-

Six.

Light-

Seven.

Cleansed.

Eight.

Nine. The ninth star fell and faded. The light ceased.

Had it been enough? Continuous annihilation. Izanagi or no, Rinnegan or no, the land was glass and he would be buried under. Almost the same thing I'd done to Zetsu.

Konan whimpered, shifting in my embrace. All her paper was in ashes and the exposed parts of her cloak had been burned away. I groaned as I shifted: my back hurt. Second degree burns, maybe third. I pushed through the pain nonetheless, slowly standing up, resisting the urge to fall over and give up. She gasped as she saw my back, but set to healing it anyway, what minor healing she could.

I scanned the devastation. Sunagakure was gone, and all that remained was a flat hollow scores of meters across shaped like a cone, the surface black and shining. The sun shone down brilliantly, sending the glass shimmering.

"Tobi," I said hoarsely, "Do you see Tobi?"

Konan shook her head, "There's so much lingering chakra, I can't sense anything anymore. My god, Ren, I never imagined…"

Something shifted in the sands. I looked at Tobi's slender body, still twitching. The cloak was in tatters, but there was nothing to be seen behind it: skin and flesh had molten and charred into an unrecognizable slurry. But Tobi moved slowly, rhythmically, alive and breathing.

"I forgot." He says, voice distorted, "I forgot just how _fucking ridiculou_ s you were. Goddamn, it's been a while since you pulled that out so fast. You almost killed your wife there, you know."

I sighed. I tried to walk forwards, but I only made a few tottering steps before collapsing onto my knees on the sand. All was quiet.

"You fucker…"

A dry chuckle came from Tobi's body.

"Did I at least make you sacrifice an eye?" I asked.

"Hah, no. They hurt like hell though. I was taken off guard this time, Ren, I won't do that again." Tobi slowly stood up, facing away from me. Amazingly, his body was already healing, the blackened skin cracking away bit by bit and pale flecks of pink appearing underneath. But I knew this battle was a draw.

He took a step.

"Who are you, really?" I asked after him. Neither I nor Konan had chakra left to stop him with, nor were any of us in a condition to fight anymore.

Space twisted, and Tobi was gone. I fell back to Konan's arms and let myself fade away to the sight of the desert sun.

* * *

An wizened rabbit and a self-proclaimed child of prophecy sat in the shadow of the God Tree to discuss the End of the World.

The conversation dragged on fairly long. Elder Rabbit spoke of things nobody should know but I *did* know. Of Kaguya Otsutsuki's origins and tale. Of the Ten Tails and the founding of Ninjutsu. And past that, beyond the confines of the world.

Of the scores of clans beyond, roving across the Universe in search of worlds to seed with Chakra fruit and later harvest. The very same empire Kaguya rebelled from and raised the Zetsu army to combat.

"You have already changed far too much," Elder Rabbit told me, in a tone that was both praise and admonishment. "Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha will _not_ inherit Hagoromo's power now. Someone else must step forward to claim that mantle now."

I looked at the God Tree, then down at the small pile of rice cakes on the plate set aside. "You want me to do it. To actually save this world from the storm that's coming."

"Indeed."

I sighed, looking down even as the weight of the world fell upon my shoulders.

"Then I will." I said, making a fist. Determination or something or other.

I wouldn't know for a long time after that about the full breadth of plans the Rabbits had made, and all their contingencies upon contingencies.

Eventually, Elder Rabbit brought out a scroll. There was a single name before mine, but it was smudged out and unreadable. I signed it in blood, making a narrow slice in my fingers with a kunai. The agreement wasn't what I wanted originally, but now I realized it had so much more potential than any kind of battle summon.

"Time to go back, I guess." I decided I couldn't tell my team about the Rice Cakes, nor the Rabbits' plans, but I could tell them I made contact with my summons and they weren't battle summons.

Elder Rabbit nodded sagely and waved me away. I felt a moment of weightlessness, then I was unceremoniously dumped into damp grass.

"Well?" Jiraiya stood over me with his arms crossed.

"Whoa! You made it back!" Minato said excitedly, "Did you get the summon?"

"Um, kinda..." I began.

* * *

One might think being heavily injured and unconscious in the middle of the desert with no other living person around but an also heavily injured and chakra drained woman would be a dangerous proposition.

But I woke up in the Konoha hospital nonetheless, bandaged all over. My body was really sore, though not as bad as it could be. I just lay there, slowly breathing. Thinking.

"He's awake, go in already" I heard Tsunade say as her footsteps left the room and faded away. Three people rushed in. Konan grabbed me and hugged me tightly, muttering "Thank god you're okay."

Behind her, Minato looked almost normal. I gave him a small smile he tried to return. There were bags under his eyes. "Wow, I leave you by yourself for a week…" he said, "Thankfully, Konan had the presence of mind to trigger my alarm seal."

I chuckle, "It's good to have you back."

He nodded, "I shouldn't have left. I want to know what's going on, as soon as you're back on your feet." He looked determined, though I could see actual Minato, still weary, still forlorn, behind the facade.

"Blast it, boy." Jiraiya grumbled, "Nine Suns at point blank... I thought I taught you better than that!"

"It worked though!" I protested.

Konan said glumly, "Tobi's still alive, you know."

I nodded. "Yeah. But I'm getting closer and closer. I don't know who he is or _what_ he is yet, but I'm figuring out his abilities."

At the others' inquisitive looks, I said, "Everything. He can do everything. I underestimated his Rinnegan."

There was a shocked silence. It was like the world had frozen. I knew what each of them was thinking, "Rinnegan? Like Nagato's?"

I replied to that for them, "Yes, like Nagato's. I don't know how he got his hands on them, but there's no doubt about it, he has both a Rinnegan and a Sharingan."

"How?" Jiraiya whispered. "Nagato-"

"-is perfectly fine. Tobi's Rinnegan is something else." I looked at Konan, "I have no idea how he got both of those. There's no one he could've taken a Sharingan from, not while I still live. You know that" I turned back to Jiraiya and Minato as I said the last line.

I continued, "His defense is threefold: the Mangekyo Sharingan's Kamui, which lets him phase out of this reality into a pocket dimension, allowing him to pass through attacks harmlessly; the Izanagi, which lets him literally re-write reality around him to reverse any effects or attacks on him for a few minutes, but will cost him his Sharingan; and finally the Rinnegan's ability to absorb jutsu." I left the question of _how did he have both Obito's Kamui and Itachi's Amaterasu_ unmentioned. Sasuke also had Amaterasu because he was Itachi's brother. Obito had no such siblings, only Okita as a first cousin.

"He's killed two of the major villages already. How do we beat him?" Minato asked simply. "Give us the plan, Ren."

"I nearly burned him to ash even through all those defenses, with Nine Suns. He can't use Kamui any longer than ten minutes, and he's unwilling to sacrifice his Sharingan. And the Rinnegan's ability is jutsu absorption, not nullification, which means there is a limit to it. A limit Nine Suns clearly surpassed."

I thought for a moment. "We need an alliance with the remainder of the villages. Even if we kill him, the effects of losing hidden villages will resonate through the Elemental Nations and destabilize it for decades. We have a breather now, with how I injured him. We'll need to contact both Cloud and Mist, regardless of our past histories." I didn't really want to try pulling off a Shinobi Alliance, not when our enemy was one man and the current Kage were so much more antagonistic. I didn't even know who the Mizukage was. Still, we needed coordination.

Jiraiya and Minato shared a glance.

Minato looked dark. "Ren, you didn't hear who the new Mizukage and the Sanbi's new host are, did you?"

I shook my head.

Jiraiya said, "The host of the Three-tails is Ryuugetsu Hozuki, the Sea Dragon. The Fourth Mizukage is Yukari Yuki, the Crystal Princess."

My blood ran as cold as ice.

* * *

The pace is going to slow down for a bit now, as everyone prepares and whatnot for the next clash.

Leaning Leon I'd love to write longer chapters, actually, but it's a personal fault that I have difficulty drawing out scenes. Everything either ends up getting compressed and rapidly paced through, whether be dialogue or action, or bogged down in verbose descriptive paragraphs.


	14. Scarlet Star - IV

Then it _boiled_. My anger sent my chakra spinning through my system as a torrent of fire. If my control had been any less I would've set fire to the sheets.

"Those two? The ones who-" I asked in between deep breaths.

Jiraiya nodded grimly. Minato had turned away from the bed to look out the window, arms crossed.

"Who are they?" Konan looked between us curiously. "I've heard their names before but… do you know them?"

The answer came from Minato. "They killed Okita." He said simply.

"I swore I would kill them, one day," I said, "I- I didn't think one of them would become the Fourth Mizukage. All my sources said Yagura Karatachi was ready to take the seat for himself."

 _But then you went and killed the Sanbi outright with your own hands. Of course shit changed!_

"What did Dan say? Mist was all but about to tear itself apart hunting down its own bloodlines. How did two heirs of old bloodline clans then suddenly grab the most powerful position?"

Jiraiya shrugged, "Things got pretty heated. They won the fight in the end, according to Dan."

I sighed, "Damn, I need to think." I said, steepling my fingers.

"Well, that's our Ren back," Minato said with a tiny chuckle, turning away from the window.

After a few minutes' deliberation, I reached a decision. "We reach out to Cloud first. Call the Raikage and his Jinchuuriki. Both of them, unless the Two-Tails hasn't been sealed into a new container yet. Tobi seems to have plans regarding the jinchuuriki as well: he's targeted both-" my voice faltered, "-the Nine and One-tails, and Kitsuchi has heard nothing from the Four and Five-tails since the fall of Iwa."

"Minato, you have Thunder God seals in Rain, right?" I asked him. He nodded, "I want you to put them directly on Nagato and Kitsuchi as well. Tell them I ordered you to do so. Then find the Nanabi's Jinchuuriki in Hidden Waterfall and bring them here with all speed."

"We need an united front." Jiraiya stated simply.

I shook my head, "Not just that. I want a bounty posted for Tobi. Ten _billion_ ryō."

"Can we even _pay_ that?" Konan asked incredulously.

With a shrug, I replied, "We won't have to. Tobi isn't going to die to any random hunter-nin, not even to any of those S-classes floating around. But it'll bring the heat on him, and he won't be able to move freely like he's done so far. Announce him as the killer of Stone and Sand."

"You sure that's smart?" Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at the last part.

"Oh, right, don't say this guy single handedly destroyed a hidden village'. Keep that part a little lowkey." My former teacher, current spymaster, rolled his eyes.

I went back to thought. "What else… what else…" I muttered.

"I want to speak to Obito. That should be all. Minato, let him know I'll see him first thing tomorrow morning in my off-" I was cut off by Konan poking me in the side.

"Lady Tsunade said you're staying here for another day." She told me, then added with utter mock-solemnity, "It's my duty to ensure that."

I muttered, "Oh no…"

* * *

I watched the end of the world, and I burned.

There was fire. Fire in my heart, my flesh, my thoughts, my skin, my self.

I was the Son of Ten Suns. I was born in flame and I would die in flame.

 _Hoyui's Heart: Soul of the Ten Su-_

I woke up.

* * *

Night before last's dream had rattled me. Sure, I always had dreams after a big ingestion of the cakes, a side effect of throwing ripoff God-fruits down my throat at whim.

But I had _never_ seen the same dream twice. They were always at an indeterminate point in the future. Did that mean there was no other future past Hoyui's Heart?

It didn't seem that far off. It scared me a little. It felt far too close to the present, far too close for me to end. Even moving past Tobi, I had things to do, nations to save. I looked over at Naruto's crib, bought to my office so I could do my duties as Hokage while also watching over him. He was fast asleep, his whiskers twitching now and then. Raise children, too.

I put my pen down. There was a knock at the door.

"Come on in, Obito." I called.

"Lord Hokage." He bowed as he entered.

He looked beaten up. A lot in the same way as Minato. There was a very similar shadow behind his eyes, from the same kind of loss.

I gave him a wan smile, "How're you holding up? It's been a hard few days for us all, but especially for you and Minato. I know how he's doing, but, you... we haven't really talked."

Obito gave me a sullen look, "I already talked to the Yamanaka."

"I'm sure you have." I said, standing up, "I'm also sure said Yamanaka hasn't fought Tobi, or lost their teammate to a far superior foe they honestly thought they could beat."

A quiet "Oh."

"C'mon." I put a hand on his shoulder and guided him past my desk to the balcony, taking a quick glance at Naruto before stepping out. Leaf stretched out before us, as quiet and idyll as ever. A couple birds alighted from the balcony as we stepped out.

"What do you see when you look around?" I swept an arm out.

Obito gave me a sideways glance, "Kohona? Is this another spiel about the Will of Fire?"

"As Hokage, I'm contractually obligated to give regular spiels about the Will of Fire." I muttered. Obito choked a bit.

There was a tiny bit of smoke in the distance, from one of the training fields. I made a mental note to ask genins to use fewer fire techniques in forested grounds.

"As shinobi, we have to protect all of this. We have to protect Konoha first and foremost, and then maybe even the world." I said.

"Huh."

"There was one a boy who wanted to be a hero." I continued. "But after a long time, he learned that it wasn't possible to save everyone. On one hand, he could've chosen the world, sacrificing those he loved and even himself, turning his mind into steel and breaking it. Or, on another hand, he could've chosen those he loved above all else, the world be damned. What do you think he picked?"

Obito thought for a moment. "What would you pick, sir?"

I smiled, "Neither."

At his surprised look, I went on, "There's no point to living in a world if those you love can't share it with you. But nor is there any point in living with them, huddled up, in a dead, empty world.

"This isn't something one should make compromises on. If you want to save people, do it absolutely, or not at all. No compromises. No choices. You dive headfirst into hell and fury, with the knowledge in your head that you won't lose."

"Is that what you think, sir?" Obito half growled at me, "You're the Hokage! Even if I became Hokage I wouldn't ever reach your level. You're practically the strongest shinobi alive! Why're you telling me 'don't lose' like it's no big deal?"

I met his gaze. "Because I wasn't always who I am now. Because I was once in the very same position you're in now. But, more than that, I need your help."

"Really?" Obito looked up at me, his earlier anger wiped away by surprise.

I nodded as I reached down inside my coat, debating internally. "I can kill Tobi, but I can't catch him. I need your Kamui for that. Tobi has the same ability, but you can catch him out and counter him."

Obito finally managed a hard grin. "Damn right. Tha-"

"Don't get too carried away." I told him, "You're going to help, but you're also going to stay safe. That's an order. I'm not losing anyone else."

I drew out a rice cake and tossed it to him. "Here you go. Have it all, slowly, and don't give it to anyone else." I watched as he took a bite. His face practically lit up, eyes flying wide open as if jolted by electricity.

 _Damn, I don't want to do this, but I don't have a choice either._ The rabbits had told me to avoid handing out the rice cakes to anyone else, because the chakra it was filled with was a variation of Six Path's Chakra. It would go badly for most normal people to take in too much of that suddenly.

But I'd drip fed Okita, Minato and Jiraiya-sensei the rice cakes for years, crushed and sneakily added into our food whenever it was my turn to cook. They'd come out of a lot stronger than they should've been with no side effects. I still put it in my food regularly and had Minato over for dinner often (barring recent events).

Fortunately, Obito seemed fine. Just really startled, with every bite. Well, he was Uchiha, descendant of Hagoromo.

"I'm giving you an opportunity, Obito. Try not to mention this, and meet me behind the Hokage monument tomorrow morning."

He nodded, more energetic than I'd seen him in weeks, wiping the last crumbs from his mouth.

I hoped this wasn't mistake.

I watched him go.

* * *

Reviews are welcome!


	15. Scarlet Star - V

Obito picked things up fast, I'll give him that. He was slowly starting to hold out longer than a few seconds against me, though I almost never fought for real without eating a bunch of the cakes and I wasn't doing so here. _I also wasn't incinerating half the mountain and turning it to a blackened mound of glass._

It wasn't easy to train a Jounin-level Shinobi to be on par with a Kage within a matter of weeks. Still, I like to think Obito got further along than most others. He pushed himself every morning, training from dawn to dusk, and improved by leaps and bounds… _literally_ , I mused as he bounded past yet another streak of fire I shot at him.

I had twenty shadow clones continuously using Six Suns at him, albeit at a tiny fraction of its full strength. They were merely small fireballs any Uchiha could throw. The test for Obito was the sheer volume.

He dodged, ducked, weaved in between using his Kamui, both facets of it. Some of the arrows were pulled into Kamui while midair, others passed through him harmlessly.

"Time to ramp it up!" I called out to Obito. He was still several dozen meters away, his goal being to get in melee range of me. I saw his eyes widen, as I quickly flashed through hand seals.

 _Water Style: Water Wall!_

A towering wave of water erupted out of nowhere, covering the whole plateau and spilling over the side. It was half again as tall as I was and crashed into Obito, sending him yelping as he was washed away. I wasn't done, though, and I channelled Lightning into the water. Obito wasn't fast enough to dodge and groaned as it passed through him.

I let up only after a second. I'd kept the voltage low, so Obito should just be feeling some numbness for a few minutes.

He groaned some more as he stood back up, rubbing at his arms. "That hurt…" He muttered.

I gave him an exasperated look, "How did you not remember to phase through the water wall? It was so obviously telegraphed.

He looked to the sides and then past me sheepishly, not meeting my eyes.

"Oh." I realized, "Come on over, Rin." I said, turning to her. She had a lunch box in her hands, most likely for Obito.

I waved Obito off. "Take a break, hang out with your lady love. We'll start again later."

The training ground, a wide rocky plateau behind the Hokage Monument, was still flooded, though. I beckoned for the two of them to move behind me, and once they were, I released _Wind Style: Sweeping Gale_ , a wide-angle, continuous wave of wind that quickly pushed the water off the opposite side of the mountain.

As Obito and Rin sat down to ate, I gave the two of them some privacy, moving away to sit at the edge of the Hokage Monument to look over the village.

Although Obito had both Mangekyo, he had yet to manifest his Susanoo. I'd asked Fugaku to look into the clan's scrolls from any historical information, but while accounts of the Susanoo were present here and there, the actual details of using it after awakening the Mangekyou were rare.

A lot of the times, it activated instinctively as a defensive mechanism. But that wouldn't work for Obito, who already had an even better defense.

"Good morning, Hokage."

Orochimaru came within milliseconds of complete incineration. I sighed and relaxed only outwardly when I recognized the Sannin.

"How the hell did you…"

Orochimaru chuckled. It was creepy. "A new stealth technique of my own devising. It's nothing too extraordinary, but it should fool most conventional senses or detection."

"I blow shit up, Orochimaru. I'm hardly a good candidate to test something like this." I replied, "Also I'm your goddamn Hokage." I punctuated the last line with some heat.

Orochimaru continued without his eyebrows. "I've made a breakthrough with the Second's technique." He didn't sound entirely satisfied with himself, however.

"Finally," I muttered, "I'll be down at your lab later."

He nodded, then craned his head to look at Obito, tongue snaking out to lick his lips. I narrowed my eyes.

"The boy doesn't stand a chance."

"He will." I said.

"You're the strongest shinobi alive, and you lost." The fact that Orochimaru had just flat out admitted I was stronger than him was drowned under what he said.

"Shut. The. Fuck. Up." I growled through clenched teeth, "You know nothing. You're valuable, but ultimately not indisposable, so do be a little more careful."

Before he could say anything else, I added, "I know you want to mess around with Obito, make him stronger by putting a curse seal or whatever on him. You won't."

"I see." Orochimaru said with uncharacteristic demureness. "I'll take your leave, Lord Hokage."

He slipped off the edge of the cliff and vanished out of sight below Tobirama's face.

I let out a long sigh. _That was a bad move. I still need him._ But I'd lost my temper anyway. He'd prodded a sensitive spot. _Strongest in the world and can't save a single fucking person I love._

What a fucking joke.

"A-Are you okay, Lord Hokage?" Rin ventured after a few moments of quietness. The two of them weren't eating but looking at me. I realised I was still scowling and gnashing my teeth.

I wasn't.

"No. I'm not, really." I replied.

I didn't say anything more; they didn't pry any further.

After another round of training in which Rin stood by the sidelines and watched, cheering Obito on, I called him over.

"What I'm about to tell you is… not widely known. You might as well listen in, Rin." I aimed the second sentence at Rin, who had been fidgeting by the side, unsure whether to listen in or not.

"Every Mangekyo Sharingan gives its owner a set of abilities. You already have two forms of Kamui, though others with the Mangekyou would likely have different abilities. But you'll be able to unlock a third ability, the Susanoo."

Obito looked interested right away, "What's the Susanoo?"

"Imagine it as a giant spectral avatar that manifests around your body. It armours you and gives your attacks incredible range and power. Madara Uchiha's Susanoo, at full power, could cleave _mountains_ with a single swing.

"Are you serious?" Obito said incredulously, no doubt imagining himself in the same shoes. I bit back a light chuckle. _I would've liked to fight Madara at full power, instead of barging into a cave and beheading an old man with one stroke._

"What's the catch?" He asked.

I shrugged as I said, "Well, I have absolutely no idea how to go about manifesting it."

"Oh." Obito's mood dropped.

Rin added cheerfully at that, "Don't worry! I'm sure we'll be able to figure it out with the help of the lord Hokage."

"Might as well." I said as I stood up.

"Ready for round three?"

* * *

"You overstep your bounds, Son of Suns."

Elder Rabbit loomed over me. Once upon a time I might've shrunk back, but now I held my ground.

"Our bargain was that I'd shield you and this world from the Otsutsuki. I can't do that if _everyone is killed by a lunatic with a fucking Rinnegan!_ "

The rabbit gave out something close to a sigh, turning away from me to look up at the God Tree looming beyond. It was daytime, drawing near to dusk, and the cold sun silhouetted the flower.

"Remember, the Otsutsuki will sense the Chakra emanating from your- our world. They will come for it, and when they do, they'll also discover our refuge. That must not hap-"

"I know, I know!" I cut him off, pacing around the clearing. "We don't have to argue here. I'm indebted to you for keeping Okita's body at rest, and we have our contract. You need me to make your plans come into fruition. None of us factored Tobi into our plans. So when I tell you I'm working on bringing this whole thing back on track before it gets derailed and blasted to orbit, let me do it."

The rabbit looked at me as I spoke, before turning back away.

 _Of course, Tobi could very well go along with your backup plan. Destroy everything, wipe out all traces of ninjutsu, minimize chakra usage so that the Otsutsuki never even notice this world._

"So, can I take more rice cakes now?"

Elder Rabbit still didn't reply. I waited for a few moments, then internally sighed, throwing up my arms.

I took a few steps away from him. Unlike the previous time I'd been here just after Tobi's first appearance, the clearing was empty. I reached the edge and took a deep breath of the cool, fresh air, positively brimming with chakra. The endless fields of rice stretched on below me, the rabbits working on it no bigger than mites at this distance.

"Your memories weren't fully clear, when you first came to us." Elder Rabbit suddenly said, "Do you remember?"

"Yeah," I answered, "You helped me unlock most of the hazy parts."

"But not all." Elder Rabbit turned around.

I turned around at the same time too, "What? But you said-" I started.

"We were able to make the… partial memories whole. But some knowledge, some memories that should've existed, simply didn't."

My eyes narrowed, "Why're you telling me this this now, and not fucking years ago?"

"It wasn't relevant before."

"These are my memories! They're not on a need-to-know basis or something, damnit!"

"There is a possibility," Elder Rabbit continued, "That there may be a hint to your adversary's identity, or a means of defeating them, in those memories."

"Ah, great," I muttered. "Time for some inner peace, maybe meditating under moonlit skies? Or a journey of self-discovery to find the truth?"

Elder Rabbit looked excited at my answer, "Precisely!"

Sighing, I replied, "Where do I start? C'mon, give me something _useful_ here."

"Your ancestors' lives, perhaps. The ruins of Stone, where you know your father was once, or perhaps even Uzushiogakure."

"Helpful for once. Good ideas, actually. But I still need the-"

"No. Not yet, while you have other options available. You may take the allotted amount, and no more for others."

I stared Elder Rabbit down for a moment, looking right into his great red eyes. I wasn't winning here today, apparently.

"Alright." I finally gave in.

* * *

"ARE YOU SURE THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?" Konan screamed into my ear.

"RELAX! WE'LL BE FINE! IT'S JUST A BIT OF WIND AND RAIN!" I yelled back.

I could tell she was shaking her head exasperatedly. I grinned. It felt just like home.

As much a home as a rock in the middle of the sea, amidst howling torrential winds and freezing, sheets of rain could be called home. The sea around us boiled and churned in a great whirlpool, one so big across the center of the vortex was beyond the horizon. The crag we stood upon was barely holding up, and the boat that had bought us near here had almost sunk four times, before I used _Hoyui's Bone: Worldshape_ , to raise up a five-mile long wall from the seabed itself to get us the rest of the way.

Said wall had disintegrated within moments, even though I'd put four whole cakes' worth of chakra into it, but it had been enough to get us to this point.

"So, how does it feel?" Konan asked, still shouting in my ears. I wanted to use _Taker of the Skies_ , but I had to conserve chakra, for the first time in my life in almost a decade, because I was burning through way too many cakes, and not getting enough extra. She was fully bodied now: the winds were just too wrong for her to control any paper, making it risky to disassemble herself.

"Like homecoming. Even though I barely remember anything!" I called back, my mouth stretching wide.

I grinned as I looked down at the Ruins of Uzushiogakure.

* * *

The next arc wasn't actually present in the original conception, but only got added recently. But it should make the overall flow better. Feel free to leave a review!


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